Championship Women (1^st 16-5): vs. Hume City (3^rd 12-9) @ The Arena Annexe, Saturday 8.00pm and Sunday 3.00pm (if required)

A first ever Big V State Championship is there for the taking for the Geelong Lady Cats. They bring an important 1-nil advantage over Hume City back to The Arena Annexe on Saturday night, after holding off the Lady Broncos 76-69 in game one. Despite the advantage, coach Grantley Bernard is well aware Hume City will hit back hard. “We have to be prepared for whatever they bring,” coach Bernard said of the Broncos. “Their offence was a little different to what we really expected. They really spread the floor and did a couple of different things there.” As well as adjusting to what Hume City produce on Saturday night, Bernard will be imploring his team to stick to the structure which got them to this point. “Play possession by possession and take it as it comes.” Anna Teague, who is the only Lady Cat to appear in all 24 games in 2010, will again be a key to the game. Her experience at WNBL and SEABL level has shone through in the playoffs, averaging 17.3ppg and 8rpg, up on 10.4ppg and 6.7rpg across the season. The battle in the paint will again be intriguing, with former Lady Cat Ana Marinovic’s last two appearances for Hume City against her former club bringing just 11 points on a combined 4-of-30 shooting from the field. On the other hand Candice Rogers, who will contend with Marinovic for the centre spot in the Big V All-Star team, has averaged 15.5ppg and 15.5rpg in those two meetings.

Division 1 Men (1^st 16-4): vs. Melbourne University (2^nd 14-6) @ The Arena Annexe, Saturday 6.00pm and Sunday 1.00pm (if required)

The Cats have their sights firmly fixed on evening up the Division 1 series against Melbourne University. Shayne Bow’s men turned in arguably their worst performance of 2010 in last week’s 110-82 game one loss to the Black Angels. Leading by three points at half-time, the Cats were blown away by Uni’s 60-29 second half. “We stopped doing all the team things that got us to the grand final in the first place,” coach Bow said of the effort. University dictated the terms of the second half and pushed us out of our game plan. If we are to win on Saturday we must re group and reapply the team structure we have had in place all year.” The Cats will also need to find more scoring support for Jason Reardon. The Division 1 MVP favourite’s haul of 34 points was more than 40 percent of the 82 Geelong scored. Just two other players (Paul Hutchison 13 and JJ Paton 11) scored in double figures, as the Cats shot at just 39.3 per cent from the field, compared to the Black Angels 56.3 per cent. The disparity from beyond the three point line was also telling. The Black Angels finished at an impressive 11-from-23, while Geelong could manage just 6-from-26. If the triple threat of Nic Masunda, Scott Cuffe and Liam Norton can be contained, the Cats will be able to push the series into a deciding game three. That trio combined for 91 of the Students’ 110 points.