GAME 1:
Women’s:
A close first half showed great promise for Melbourne University, but unfortunately, Latrobe University was too strong offensively, with plenty of shooting threats. Kayla Vitale was hot from beyond the arc, Eleanor Bollands was strong inside, and Emily Maltezos was finding lanes with ease. However, it was Tahlia Leeson who proved hard to stop, having 17 points in the first half off the bench.
The Winged Victory struggled with converting, despite getting great looks. Ruby Knicks (14pts) found some rhythm from three, hitting two in the first half. She led her team in scoring, followed by Eliza Bannan (11pts,10rebs) who had a double-double of her own and was strong inside, especially against Latrobe’s zone. Nicks went on to hit another two down the stretch as the team made a late run, but their comeback was too little too late, and the visitors ran away with it.
Men’s:
A slow burn to begin, before an inevitable turn when Melbourne University took control. Nick Day (18pts, 9rebs) was great for Latrobe University, but his teammates couldn’t lift alongside him. The Winged Victory were too strong across the board, Wilson Amos (21pts, 11rebs) and Alek Bandilovski (14pts, 11rebs) leading the way, but the home side had five players in double-digits, a true indicator of the talent the team possesses and there was little their opposition could do to keep up. The team’s defence is arguably better than their offence, they kept Latrobe to nine points in both the second and fourth quarters and their lowest final score of the season, just 48 points. It was sheer and utter domination from the Winged Victory.
Game 2:
Women’s:
Heading across the seas, this was always going to be a challenging game, however, the girls rallied. The addition of Meera Coburn (8pts, 4rebs, 4blk) back in the squad gave them hope, and the combination of her and Kayla Salmons (8pts, 7rebs, 2ast) worked well together, but it wasn’t enough to withstand the solid UTAS team. While they made it hard work for star player Sharna Thomspon to score her 21 points, it was the hot shooting of Hope Brooks that really made an impact. Her team ran the pick ad pop for her to perfection, Melbourne University’s centre’s chasing from their “drops” position off the screen. She nailed four from eight threes, finishing as equal highest scorer alongside Thompson.
While the away team weren’t quite as efficient in their offence, Ruby Nicks the only player in double digits. Herself and Layla Prince brought a spark and put some heat on the rim, otherwise the scoring was relatively spread out. The final score doesn’t show just how close the game was, but in the end, the 21 turnovers and 13% 3pt shooting didn’t help.
Men’s:
Despite it being their second game of the week, the men’s team were rolling and were keen to get another dub. The likes of Jack Stanwix (21pts, 6rebs, 4stl) and his UTAS team had other ideas, conceding the first quarter by four points, they won the next two and it was all tied up entering the final stage.
Regardless of the game starting with a tech foul each for each team, both complaining about physicality on made shots – the game continued to be physical, neither team backing down. In the end, it came down to another stand out performance by Wilson Amos (29pts, 5rebs, 2ast, 2stl), and some clutch three-point shooting from Harvey Moore (14pts, 4/5 3PM).
For UTAS, alongside Stanwix’s strong performance, was Captain Caleb Nash (13pts, 9rebs) and Jordan Straatsma (13pts, 6rebs, 5ast). Brothers in Izach and Jaxsyn Collins couldn’t get it going from deep, shooting one of ten from beyond the arc between them. If they had made even a few, the game could have gone in a different direction.