Div 1 Women Preview - Rebels Back to League Action
Wednesday, 16-Jan-2008

By Dave Ryan

After playing each other in the National Cup final last week, City of Sheffield Hatters and Rhondda Rebels will aim to maintain their unbeaten start in the league when they return to regular season action on Saturday.

Betty Codona’s Sheffield side will look to bounce back from their final disappointment when they host London Heathrow Acers. While Hatters have won their first seven games to top the table, Acers are seventh in the table with a 3-5 record.

The sides are yet to meet this season, but Hatters won both games between them last season, hammering Acers 80-35 in December before winning 77-45 at Spelthorne College a month later.

Newly crowned National Cup champions Rebels are also at home when they host Nottingham Wildcats who are joint fifth with a 5-3 record.

The Welsh side have won all of their six league games this season, and will look to repeat last season’s pair of wins against Wildcats. Rebels won 87-51 at home in December before they shaded a thriller, 72-68, in the March’s return.

Nottingham will be hoping for Jill Glessner to repeat last week’s fine statistics against London Towers as she finished with 34 points, seven rebounds, eight steals, three blocks and four assists.

The battle for a home playoff spot will be evident at UWIC Sports Hall where the home-town Archers host Manchester Mystics. Both sides have five wins, with Archers one place ahead of Manchester in fourth place due to having a game in hand. It will be the first meeting between the teams.

Two sides in need of a victory meet at Hamble Sports Centre where Solent Suns host London Towers. While the home side are occupying eighth place, and the final playoff spot, with a 2-6 record, Towers are still searching for their first league victory of the campaign.

Towers will be hoping to repeat last season’s 80-75 victory in Hampshire, which was their only victory of the campaign other than their two wins against basement side Doncaster. Suns gained revenge when the teams met at Crystal Palace in January, running out 57-41 winners.

Two sides who are familiar with each other meet at Coach Lane on Sunday when Team Northumbria host London Heathrow Acers.

The pair met at Spelthorne College last week where the visitors won 72-55, with Jaye Colbert leading all scorers on 21 points while Patricia Da Silva led the home side with 14.

Both of last season’s meetings saw Acers collect the league points as they narrowly won 94-91 in the north east in December before recording a comfortable 77-56 home win in March.

Northumbria are currently third in the table with a 6-4 record – though they have played more games than any other team.