Hatters cards fall in their favour as they make Manchester go bust 89-65. 

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Marg Jones and her Manchester Giants are back on the road this Sunday as they looked set to take on the Sheffield Hatters in the city of steel. 

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The last time these 2 teams took each other on it was a close one. A tightly contested affair that saw Manchester pull a rabbit out of the hat and produce some magic to secure the win. This time around the Hatters will be hoping the cards are in their favour. 

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Starting 5’s: 

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Manchester Giants: Brooklyn Macalear-Fanus, Georgia Anderson ©, Myah Pace, Eva Karasaite, Hannah Shaw. 

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Sheffield Hatters: Carla Drennan, Georgia Gayle, Desiree Ramos, Emma Eichmeyer, Madison Washington. 

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First Half: 

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A closely contested opening quarter which started off with a turnaround jumper from Eva Karasaite in her first time in the Giants starting 5 since October. Eichmeyer and Washington of the Hatters responded quickly in back to back possessions to change the tide before the All Star captain of the North Georgia Anderson let loose from beyond the arc. Sheffield began to go on a run after a Myah Pace bucket, the Hatters went 6 unanswered and pulled away to a 7 point lead. Leah McDerment and her jumpshot allowed Manchester to rally and through the sharpshooting abilities of Idil Turk, Manchester dragged it back to a single point deficit. 

The entire first quarter was a close affair at 19-18 and this quarter was no different. The first points of the 2nd quarter wouldn’t happen until Myah Pace connected twice from the charity stripe for the lead to swap hands once again. Pace, another Giants All Star, would connect from the free throw line once again a minute later as she managed to draw the foul on Washington. Hatter’s Drennan drained a 3 ball to change the lead over once more as Sheffield found rhythm once more through the midway point of the quarter.

The combined efforts of: Washington, Gayle and Eichmeyer saw the Hatters in a familiar place, up by 7 once more. 

Gayle made it an 8 point deficit but a pair of free throws from Giants Centre Hannah Shaw would set things in motion for Manchester once more. Leah McDerment, Lauren Thomas-Johnson and Hannah Shaw would take charge offensively and once again dissolve another Sheffield lead before the half. 

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Second Half: 

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A slightly shaky 3rd quarter for Manchester got underway through a Georgia Anderson 3 ball off a dime from Brooklynn Macalear-Fanus. A 3 from Sheffield’s Ramos set things into motion as Georgia Gayle hit twice from the charity stripe to put the Hatters up by 6. Rather than the Giants finding their rhythm, Ramos notched a pair of free throws of her own. Lauren Thomas-Johnson got the next 6 points for Manchester to bring it to a 4 point ball game. Gayle of the Hatters went on her own solo scoring run, reflective of Thomas-Johnson, in order to restore the lead. Sheffield did most of their damage from the line towards the business end of the quarter with 7 attempts from the line in the final few minutes where they made 6 of them to keep a 7 point lead. 

The 4th quarter saw the Hatters outscore the Giants by over double. Manchester went 3/11 the entire quarter whereas Sheffield went 13/20 and even 4/6 from beyond the arc compared to Manchester’s 1/5. A pair of back to back mid range efforts from Ramos gave Sheffield their first double digit lead of the evening. Ramos would go on to score 15 points total in the quarter out of Sheffield’s 30. Combined with 3 ball efforts from Fairley and Gayle, it saw the Hatters storm out to a commanding lead. Manchester struggled from the field as well as from the line in this final quarter which proved to be their untimely doing. 

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Stats: 

Lauren Thomas-Johnson: 15 points, 6 Rebounds, 80%FG.

Myah Pace: 10 Points, 10 Rebounds, 2 Steals. 

Brooklynn Macalear-Fanus: 5 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 2 Steals. 

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Marg Jones and her Giants are back on the road again. This time they are headed to Nottingham to take on the Wildcats. Tip off is scheduled for Sunday March 31st at 5:30pm and will be available to view via the Women’s British Basketball League YouTube channel. 

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The entire game footage from this evening’s game will be available to view below: