Women's Game Preview - Southern v South Adelaide
Saturday April 17, 6:30pm at Morphett Vale
|
Southern Tigers |
South Adelaide Panthers |
|
|
Minor Round Record |
7th – 1 Win and 4 Losses |
9th – 1 Win and 4 Losses |
|
Head Coach |
Willie Jennette |
Glenn Shaw |
|
Top Scorer |
Robyn Jennings – 13.4 ppg |
Claire Johnson – 12.4 ppg |
|
Top Rebounder |
Robyn Jennings – 8.2 rpg |
Cassandra Carpenter–7.6 rpg |
|
Top Assists |
Gilly Hendrie – 3.0 apg |
Claire Johnson – 3.8 apg |
This game best exemplifies the moniker of the rivalry round. South and Southern truly are "traditional rivals", and not just due to locality. There has been more than an average amount of player movement between these two clubs in the last 10 years, and each would be desperate to break the 3-way tie for 7th (Woodville).
Southern's 1 and 4 record could so easily have been very different. The Tigers suffered a heartbreaking 3-point loss to North Adelaide in the reopening of The Cage, then followed up with a four point loss to now-undefeated Sturt. With a new coach in Willie Jennette and a substantially different starting group to previous years, one would expect it might take time for the Tigers to find their feet, but 6 rounds in, this game against South must surely be considered a "must win".
South too has had a rough start to the season. The Panthers only win came against Woodville in round 3, and they drew a tough early schedule which featured Sturt, Norwood and West Adelaide in the first three weeks. Even so, the Panthers are yet to finish within 15 points of an opponent other than Woodville, so would see this game as a great chance to remain in contention with the top 5.
Rosalie Cutri has been the stand out for Southern, the move from North Adelaide providing her with greater opportunity to have an impact. Within the next couple of rounds, she will have scored more points than in the entire 2009 season, and will achieve the same for rebounds and assists by the season's mid-point. Despite her size, a lot of her scoring comes from around the basket, though she also has the ability to hit the three if left open.
Claire Johnson has been the great improver for the Panthers, not only leading the team in scoring at 12.4 points per games, but also making significant improvements on her 2009 rebound and assist averages. She has played 38 minutes in the Panthers last two games, and Glenn Shaw may call on her again to provide some veteran leadership this weekend.
Look for a great battle between Canadian Cassandra Carpenter and American Robyn Jennings.
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