After two games being cancelled due to the current coronavirus circumstances, the women’s basketball team have finally played their first game of the season where they won with an impressive score of 88-53.
This is the team’s third season competing in the National League, and the first year they were unbeaten whilst playing in division 2 of the WNBL.
Last year was the team’s first year in season one, and, despite the season being cut short, they still managed to be placed 7th.
Head coach, Louise Waghorn, has been a coach at NTU for the last 9 years. During that time, women’s basketball at NTU has gone from one BUCS team to two, as well as a National League Team that is made up of first team players, alumni, and local players.
The teams have also won the league and gained promotion into the premiership league for BUCS twice. They also won the league last season and had the chance to gain promotion, but due to Covid this did not happen.
Louise said: “It was great to be able to get on the court and play our first game of the season. We have had a good 6 weeks pre-season so that really helped us to be ready for the game.
“We had a great all-round performance with 5 players in double figures. It was really nice to get a game under our belt.”
Team Captain, Vicky Gray, 23, previously studied Real Estate at NTU before graduating in 2019. During her time at NTU Vicky helped create the National League team in 2018 and has been with the team since the very beginning back in Division 2.
She said: “It was great to get a win in our first game of the new season, and it felt like a statement to the league that we are ready to play.
“The team put in a lot of work in pre-season and it definitely showed on the court. It was a great team win too with everyone positively contributing.”
Despite the current coronavirus restrictions placed on England, the government and Basketball England have classed the NTU team as elite, which means they are able to carry on.
Louise said: “We are very fortunate to be one of a very few teams being able to carry on and compete. We are so grateful for the support of the whole sports department in being able to make this happen too.”
Vicky added: “It’s definitely a welcome outlet and a privilege to be exempt from lockdown, so really for us it’s just about enjoying all the time we have on court.
“With that, we want to keep growing as a team and take one game at a time with the goal of being a top 3 team.”
The team have plenty of more matches lined up for the season, and we eagerly wait to see what they do next.
By Laycie Beck