The Rockets women fell short of National Cup success after a 66 to 57 loss to the Thames Valley Cavaliers.
Maike Meier led the Rockets in an all around performance. 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Saioa San Francisco put in a gutsy performance, hustling all around the court, ending with 13 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Robyn Ainge led the Cavaliers with 17 points, including four threes. Katherine Goldsby had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
It was a physical first half of basketball with Reading initially struggling to get going. The Cavaliers would find themselves up seven just three minutes into the first. The Rockets would finally get going after a lovely pass from Carlota De Mergelina Alonso found a cutting San Francisco for two.
The Cavaliers on ball pressure was causing all types of issues for the Rockets as they struggled to get good looks at the basket. But, after good play on both ends, Reading clawed their way back into it. Kristina Karpova got her second steal of the quarter, and then ran the fastbreak offense to perfection. Stopping on the three point line and finding Parfaite Elia Ando with a beautiful outlet pass for an easy two.
The Rockets would end the quarter with a lovely turnaround jumper by Meier that brought the score to 15-14 and the game looked like it was going to be close throughout.
It stayed close throughout the second, a nice screen allowed Tyra Phelan to find Tejonah-Sharon Mckay for Reading’s first bucket of the quarter. Meier would then give the Rockets the lead after a lovely post move into a fading jumper found the bottom of the bucket. A Phelan three would be the Rockets final points for the next four minutes as both teams would go ice cold from the field.
The Rockets would end the quarter with a great play that saw Jade Blackburn in the post finding a cutting Eva Luzon inside for two. The buzzer would go and the Rockets were up 27-26 despite being outrebounded. Unfortunately, it would slip away from the Rockets in the second half. Thames Valley would play beautiful basketball for the next two quarters.
It initially started well for Reading, keeping a three point lead for the first three minutes of the third quarter. But a Goldsby pull up two would start a 15-8 run for the Cavaliers throughout the rest of the quarter. Thames Valley ended the third up six, continuing their dominating defensive performance.
In the fourth and final quarter, it would completely go away from the Rockets. Two quick layups increased the deficit to 10 and a Ainge three point explosion saw the lead increase to 15 with two minutes remaining.
Reading would find their missing offense in the final minute and a half, bringing the lead to single digits, but it did not matter as the final buzzer hit with the score 66-57.
It was a great cup run for the Rockets, defeating multiple division one teams and they will look to build on it for the rest of the WNBL season.