Giants break losing streak as they knock, draw and let loose against Archers 82-73. 

Marg Jones and her Manchester Giants are back in action this afternoon as they travel to Cardiff to take on the Cardiff Metropolitan Archers in this latest round of Women’s British Basketball League action. 

The last time these 2 teams battled it out, Manchester took the spoils in the opening round of the Betty Codona Trophy, besting the Archers 82-68. Cardiff were looking for redemption heading into this tie and were also looking to notch their first win in the 2023/24 league campaign. 

Starting 5’s: 

Manchester Giants: Brooklynn Macalear-Fanus, Leah McDerment ©, Myah Pace, Sydney Hunter, Hannah Shaw. 

Cardiff Met Archers: Abigail Yunker ©, Cami Barone, Jenna Hoschouer, Solene Lemoigne, Haylee Saurette. 

First Half: 

It was a closely contested opening 10 minutes for both sides, Hannah Shaw and Sydney Hunter punished Cardiff on the interior from early but it would be the hosts who saw success from inside the paint, 7 of their 10 made baskets from open play came from breaking down the Giants interior. Manchester saw similar success in the paint from Myah Pace and Brooklynn Macalear-Fanus but it was their perimeter shooting that set them apart.

Giants captain Leah McDerment caught alight from beyond the arc as she went 3/3  from the perimeter and the team went 4/7 from 3 point land. Despite this, Cardiff did take the opening quarter by a single point. A single free throw from Cardiff’s Hoschouer was enough to put the Archers up by a point to end the quarter. 

The 2nd quarter was where Manchester went up a gear against their opponents as they outscored Cardiff 21-12. Brooklyn Macalear-Fanus connected from 3 point range to put the Giants up by 2. Cardiff’s Barone tied things up before Hannah Shaw and Idil Turk restored and even doubled the lead. Turk would go on to hit a pair of three’s later on in the quarter and one from far downtown, a shot that would put Manchester up by 8.

The rest of Manchetser’s success came from inside the paint in a similar fashion to their opponents in the previous quarter. 5/9 baskets from inside the paint for Marg Jones’ side and managed to keep out their opponents going 2/8 from their previous point of success. Jones and her Giants would see themselves up by 8 to end the half. 

Second Half: 

The 3rd quarter would prove to be a close affair yet again, 33 points scored in the entire quarter with 18 going to the hosts. Going 50% from the field and finding their success from inside the arc this time around rather than just the paint.

Manchester were seemingly shut out as they went 7/15 from the field but were shut out on the perimeter specifically as they went 1/6 from 3. With this perimeter defence, Cardiff pulled the game back to as close as a single point, a pair of free throws from Habling followed by a 3 point attempt from Saurette pulled the hosts back within touching distance.

Step up Idil Turk with a pair of back to back lay ups facilitated by Myah Pace and Brooklynn Macalear-Fanus to give the Giants a healthier lead. Couple this with defensive efforts from Leah McDerment who blocked Saurette down low. 

The 4th quarter saw Manchester put further daylight between themselves and Cardiff. Despite going 1/6  again from beyond the arc, Manchester made Cardiff pay down low, 7/11 from inside the paint and followed up by a textbook midrange effort from Myah Pace at the elbow.

Cardiff only attempted 14 shots all quarter and while they were efficient in their shot making, going 50% from the field, their lack of attempts proved to be their undoing as they needed to put shots up in order to contest with Manchester. As a result, Manchester were able to tally up more from the free throw line as well through Leah McDerment and Myah Pace. McDerment made it a double digit lead with 8 seconds left before Cardiff’s Lemoigne replied to make it a 9 point Giants win. 

Stats: 

Myah Pace: 15 Points, 7 Rebounds. 

Idil Turk: 24 Points, 52%FG.

Brooklynn Macalear-Fanus: 11 Point, 5 Rebounds, 12 Assists. 

Leah McDerment: 15 Points, 9 Rebounds. 

Next for the Manchester Giants is a second in a long line of away trips, this time the Giants are away in the city of steel to play the Sheffield Hatters. Tip off is scheduled for Sunday 24th March at 6:00pm and will be available to view via the Women's British Basketball League’s YouTube channel. 

The game footage from this afternoon's win will be available to view below: