Gloucester City Queens Head Coach Jay Marriott insists this season is not “about wins and losses” and more about the “culture” the team is trying to build for the future.
The Queens will play host to league leaders Sevenoaks Suns this Saturday at Oxtalls Sports Centre, with the action tipping-off at 7:30pm.
Following a streak of three defeats, with the latest coming last week against Leicester Riders, the Queens are looking to bounce back with a good performance against quality opposition.
After a long-awaited return, the result last Saturday against the Riders was a disappointing one, but Head Coach Jay Marriott was pleased with the effort his side showed in the fourth quarter. “We showed a lot of heart and fight, it was definitely a confidence booster,” he said.
This meeting between the Queens and Suns will be the first ever for the two sides and it should be an entertaining affair.
Winning all their first six games, the Suns have been on fine form this season, they are one of only three teams to have not suffered a defeat so far.
League leaders @SevenoaksSuns will be looking to extend their flawless run in the WBBL Championship on Saturday as they head on the road to face @GlosCityQueens! #BritishBasketball
— WBBL (@WBBLofficial) November 25, 2021
📍Oxstalls Sports Park, Gloucester
⏰ 19:30 GMT
🎟 TICKETS: https://t.co/kqAw8aAyRH pic.twitter.com/1iYSOnN8fk
Marriott has shown a lot of respect to the opposition, and is prepared for a tough clash. “We know this is going to be incredibly difficult, they are coming in with a really stacked squad and a great coach.”
For the Queens, they will be hoping for another classy performance from Canadian guard Marlee Ball who was their top performer last weekend.
Ball accumulated 20 points, six rebounds and two assists, and in the absence of Maura Fitzpatrick who is still recovering from an injury she suffered during the international break, displays like that are much needed.
Our 🇨🇦👑 Marlee Ball was our top performer this past weekend 🇬🇧🏀
— Gloucester City Queens (@GlosCityQueens) November 23, 2021
.#britishbasketball #ARISE #crownher pic.twitter.com/8wpuZ3bbAP
Shooting 31.7% from the field last game, there is a lot of room for improvement for the Queens and they will be hoping to get that percentage moving upwards this weekend.
What to expect and how do the teams matchup?
The Queens will look towards Melita Emmanuel-Carr (14.2ppg), Marlee Ball (12.4ppg) and Claire Abbott (11ppg) to carry the offensive load in this contest.
They will all have to be very sharp if they want to take this game to the Suns, Coach Marriott has compared this game to the one just over a month ago against the London Lions, stating that: “for us it is exactly the same as against London, we learnt a lesson that was really harsh, we have just got to make sure we grow as a result of that.”
Just caught up with @GlosCityQueens Head Coach @coachmarriott ahead of their @WBBLofficial clash against @SevenoaksSuns
— Sam Collins (@SamCollinsSJ) November 24, 2021
He spoke about:🗣
🔸Last time out against the Riders🐎
🔸Maura’s injury🤕
🔸The opportunity to play against quality opposition⭐️
Video to come 🔜#WBBL
The star player that the hosts will have to watch out for is Catherine Carr, in the league she is sixth in points per game (17.7ppg) and second in both assists and rebounds per game (7.3apg and 12.3rpg).
She is most certainly amongst the favourites for the Most Valuable Player award come the end of the season.
The Queens will also need to be very wary Judit Fritz and Renee Busch who are both averaging 15.2 points per game.
Although it is going to be a tough challenge to get a result for the Queens, they are certainly up for the fight, Marriott went on to say “all these players are playing in this league because they want play against teams like Sevenoaks and London.”
He rounded off by adding: “this is our home court, and we are going to give it our best shot to defend it.”
