Crusaders close in on final

Basketball

Canterbury Crusaders Ladies are now just one win away from securing a place in the East Kent Grove Cup final after a 44-31 win over the University of Kent.

Despite the absence of Emma Loane and Takako Watters, who both played significant roles in last week’s win over Christ Church, Crusaders were buoyed by the return of Danielle Muckian and an outstanding performance from Millie Hammond.

The first quarter was a close with both teams struggling to hit the target. Hammond took first blood for Crusaders with a rebound and put back under the hoop.

Terri Logan responded for UKC before Muckian hit a trademark three-pointer. Logan hit another and Steph Roworth broke only to be fouled by Sonya Hood in the act of shooting.

The shot fell and Roworth converted the bonus to make it a three-point play. Hammond levelled only to see UKC make it 9-7 at the break with a last second effort from L Montrol.

Crusaders had an excellent second quarter and hit a 10-2 streak with Muckian, Hammond and Palmer all sinking their shots. The teams then exchanged baskets until successive scores from Muckian and Palmer extended Crusaders advantage to 26-15.

However, UKC were a determined force and hit back with another last-minute basket through Audrey Maswela and at half-time they were just nine points adrift.

Crusaders opened the third quarter well with another three-pointer from Muckian but UKC went on a run through Maswela and Roworth.

Muckian then hit another long-range three and with Hood and Palmer nailing their chances Crusaders went in at the end of the quarter ahead at 36-24.

Crusaders had just the start they wanted to the final quarter with Hammond hitting back-to-back baskets. She also continued to lead the Crusaders defence with a commanding display under the backboards to shut out UKC for the first seven minutes of the quarter.

By this time Crusaders were 43-26 ahead and with just three minutes remaining, the game was as good as over.

However, UKC stuck to their game and hit seven points including a threepointer from Kiki Gilbert but time ran out. Crusaders:e Panayiotiou, J Sibley, S Hood (2), B Palmer (8), D Muckian (20), L Thomas S Moseley, L Martin (2) M Davies, M Hammond (12).