A difficult second half proves to be Manchester's undoing as Giants fall short to Wildcats 92-79.

Marg Jones and the Manchester Giants are back on the road against the Nottingham Wildcats in the latest round of Women's British Basketball League action. 

These two teams faced off twice before with honours even between both sides, Nottingham out performing Manchester in the league whilst Manchester knocked Nottingham out of the Betty Codona Trophy. 

Starting 5’s: 

Manchester Giants: Brooklynn Macalear-Fanus, Georgia Anderson ©, Myah Pace, Lauren Thomas-Johnson, Hannah Shaw. 

Nottingham Wildcats: Valerie Cassidy De Falco, Jiselle Havas, Jessica Wayne, Mari Stewart ©, Brooke Bjelko. 

First Half: 

A strong start inside for Manchester as Brooklynn Macalear-Fanus and Hannah Shaw found early success inside. Wayne and Bjelko find similar success on the opposite end. The Giants managed to catch Nottingham out on their ball movement as they turned sloppy ball retention into fastbreak points in the paint. Once Manchester found their rhythm inside they began to shoot from further out as Georgia Anderson connected from deep. Manchester looked comfortable in the opening quarter as they strode out to an 8 point lead. 

Nottingham began to show their claws in the 2nd quarter. A more efficient quarter for the Wildcats which saw Bjelko secure a first half double double and the team shooting 50% from beyond the arc. Manchester continued to crash the paint and put pressure on the Wildcats inside with 6 of the Giants 10 makes this quarter coming from the interior. Hannah Shaw played a big part in this, with her ability to set screens and roll to the basket as well as using the mismatch to her advantage she went into the half with 8 points and 5 rebounds with a potential double double on the horizon.  A game that saw Manchester lead by as much as 14, saw the lead reduced to 6 with a scoring run of 10-2 in favour of Nottingham in the final few minutes of action, spearheaded by the scoring duo of Havas and Bjelko. 

Second Half: 

Manchester came out swinging in the 3rd quarter as Georgia Anderson let loose from 3 once more to establish a 7 point lead. The Wildcats came back with force as they focused their offence through Bjelko who continued to be a difficult presence to deal with in the interior. A 3 ball from Stewart made the lead change hands in favour of the Wildcats. Bjelko and Whitehouse brought the lead to 6. A staggering 27 point quarter in comparison to Manchester’s 14 made it a 7 point lead in favour of Nottingham. 

Manchester’s woes only began to double as Nottingham put together another 27 point quarter Havas and Bjelko continually got the better of Manchester on the inside and even began to draw fouls on Manchester for easy baskets with 5 Giants finished with 3 fouls or more and 12 total free throws in favour of Nottingham. With a 13 point lead over the Giants that was all she wrote on Easter Sunday. 

Stats: 

Brooklynn Macalear-Fanus: 16 Points, 4 Rebounds, 7 Assists. 

Hannah Shaw: 14 Points, 8 Rebounds, 43%FG. 

Myah Pace: 12 Points, 3 Rebounds, 3 Steals. 

Georgia Anderson: 18 Points, 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists. 

The Giants are back on the road as they look set to take on the Oakland Wolves. Tip off is at 5:45PM on April 6th and will be available to view via the Women’s British Basketball League’s YouTube channel. 

The whole game footage will be available to view below: