Ipswich Basketball Club’s Senior Women bowed out of the National Playoffs on Sunday as Anglia Ruskin came into a packed Copleston Sports Centre, and took victory – ending what has been a great season for the Suffolk side.
Ruskin lead for the majority of the game, with Ipswich enjoying a brief momentum swing in the third quarter, before foul trouble and injuries added to Ipswich’s uphill task of fighting their way back into the game.
ARU will now travel to regular season champions and playoff favourites, CoLA Southwark Pride – who will be expected to advance to the final where they will face one of Thames Valley or Solent Kestrels.
Ipswich will look back on this performance with frustration, having missed a number of easy shots at the rim, and having shot below 50% from the free-throw line. However, when reflecting on this season, Ipswich will remember this season as one in which expectations were low, and that was before multiple injuries to key players happened. The team were set the challenge of living up to the standards set in previous season, and they more than achieved that, beating every team in the league (except for 8th placed Bristol) and in doing so, reminding everyone that at their best, Ipswich Basketball Club’s Senior Women are a force in WNBL Division One.
“It wasn’t to be today, and all credit must go to Anglia Ruskin who played a hell of a game. But this team has been on a massive journey this season, both on and off the court, and I couldn’t be prouder” said Ipswich Coach Nick Drane.
