Narrow loss in season opener
LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning opened their Superleague season with a clash against Team Bath on Sunday and ended up slipping to a narrow 48-44 defeat
Bath had opened their campaign with a comfortable 61-29 win over Celtic Dragons on Saturday but Anna Stembridge’s outfit were made to work much harder for this result.
They were held to 25-goals apiece at the interval and were pushed from start to finish.
However, with their speed through court and another strong defensive display, Bath were able to negate the threat of Lightning’s Mary Cholhok and another young player making a mark on the league, Jaz Odeogberin.
In the opening 12 minutes, neither side generated a great deal of turnover ball and the 14-13 margin to Bath reflected that. Tash Pavelin then pushed the intensity in defence for Stembridge’s team in the second quarter, and as they capitalised on her work, a four-goal cushion arrived.
However, Lightning did not switch off and instead reeled their old rivals back in to level proceedings at the interval.
Just before the interval, Sara Bayman introduced Odeogberin and Stembridge called upon Eboni UsoroBrown and Rachel Shaw during the half-time pause.
Despite Lightning’s Odeogberin making her presence felt for the rest of the game, Bath upped their tempo through court and their cleaner work in attack, led by the outstanding Serena Guthrie, paid dividends.
Stembridge’s outfit used the ‘championship quarter’ to restore their grip on the scoreboard, and after going into the final pause 38-34 ahead, maintained their hold on the contest until the final whistle, running out 48-44 winners.