OFF THE MARK
THE pressure valve has slightly released for the Chargers women after they broke their NBL1 duck but Mark Nash was far from getting carried away with a long overdue victory.
Hobart needed a big second half to get past a sevenplayer Diamond Valley at Kingborough Sports Centre, overturning a four point deficit at the main break to register an 84-68 win and snap a five-match losing streak to start the season.
On the back of a monster performance from Ellie Collins (34 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks) and Maddie Garrick (23 points), the hosts outscored the Eagles 25-13 in the third period before putting the foot on the accelerator in the last.
And while relieved at finally getting on the board, Nash was not impressed with the opening 20 minutes which left his outfit teetering on the edge.
“If we had lost tonight, there was no coming back for this group, as far as the season but also people and do you want to play for this club,” Nash said.
“They were the questions the players were asking themselves as halftime.
“It is relief, but still a fair bit of disappointment in that first half. When we look at it, we knew this team was going to come in and be physical, be active, and that’s what they did.
“Seven players is almost unheard of but they outworked us in the first half, we were down double figures in the rebound count.
“For us, as one of the biggest teams in the league, we can’t continually get outhustled on the boards.
“The players had some really good insights … Kylie McCauley particularly had some strong words for the group around pride and identity as a team.
“Thankfully in the second half we were able to get it done but still a lot of areas to work on.”
The Chargers turned up the heat on the Eagles in the second half, forcing the visitors into 22 turnovers.
Garrick, playing her last match before heading off to Austria to help Australia’s 3x3 side qualify for the Olympics , had five steals, locking down on the defensive end.
“We talked about Diamond Valley, one of their Achilles heels is turning the ball over, they had 22 turnovers,” Nash said.
“Ellie Collins was outstanding tonight, defensively she has some stuff to work on in keeping her player in front but she was aggressive offensively and made some big plays when we needed them.”