Severn Stars travel to Manchester on Saturday after getting their third win of the season last week against benecosMavericks. Given their positions in the table, this was a shock result. The home fans were treated to a high-class performance which saw the Stars pull away from the Mavericks in the first two quarters. It finished 55-44 to the home team but the away side still sit in fifth and 15 points ahead on 24.
Manchester also come into this off the back of a victory but, for a team in fourth position, their form is quite inconsistent at the moment. They lose one then win one with two wins in the last four games.
The last time these two played was on the opening game day of the season. The result in that one might have been more important that the team initially realised. The game finished 47-48 at the University of Worcester Arena with the Stars putting in a strong performance. However, this set a trend of results which lead to their poor start to the season. The quality was there but the results weren’t.
They have somewhat amended that trend, picking up three wins this season in 11 games. Manchester have also played 11 but have near identical but opposite record. The have eight wins and three losses.
Stars will look to tip the balance of the “opposite” form in their direction on Saturday. They certainly have the individual talent to give them a chance, according to the league’s statistics.
Stats
- Severn Stars have two players in the top 10 interceptors in the league while Thunder don’t have anyone. (Sam Cook [37], Phumza Maweni [29])
- Cook and Maweni are both in the top three players in defensive rebounds in the league. Maweni is top of the list with 32.
- Stars’ Eleanor Cardwell (14) just edges Malawi’s and Thunder’s Joyce Mvula (12) in offensive rebounds.
- Cardwell also leads Joyce in goals but actually has a lower shot-conversion rate. Joyce only has 293 goals, 110 less that Cardwell’s tally of 403. These goals come from much less attempts with Joyce having a 90% conversion rate compared to Cardwell’s 84%.
One final stat, Severn Stars have a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Manchester Thunder don’t. That is the one other difference from the last time they met and Jodie Gibson will hope she can lead the team to their fourth victory this season. Stars finished on 15 points last year so will need to win two more games to equal that tally this time. The club were confident of improving before the season began but it will have to be a strong finish to the season with seven games to go if they wish to achieve that goal.
Manchester say they have a few tickets available if you want to see this one.
FINAL WARNING
There’s just a handful of tickets left for Saturday’s game with @SevernStars.
Once they’re gone, they’re gone – there won’t be any available on the door.
Snap them up and don’t miss out – https://t.co/kChK610Npj pic.twitter.com/G3UWF0U32I
— Manchester Thunder (@thundernetball) May 17, 2018
