It was an unlucky week for the UWA Maali this week, with both the men's and women's teams unable to beat The University of Technology Sydney and The University of Sydney.
The Maali women were up first against UTS on Tuesday, finding a narrow lead throughout the first five minutes of the game. However, UTS quickly found their feet and speedily overtook the Maali. The Maali were never too far behind, only training by a few points, and even slid their way back into the lead half way through the third quarter. However, a number of consecutive 3-pointers saw UTS retake and quickly extend their lead. The Maali received a second wind in the final quarter, and although they were able to close in on UTS, they were unable to retake the lead and finished the game with 51 points to UTS' 55. Jenna Teasdale was UWA's highest scorer in this match with 12 points, closely followed by Mya Dimanlig and Ellie Newman, who both scored 10 points. The Maali also achieved an impressive 71% free throw success rate.
It was then the Maali men's turn to go up against UTS. The first quarter saw a tight battle between the teams, with neither able to maintain more than a 5-point lead. The struggle for dominance continued throughout the second quarter, until UTS managed to establish themselves with a series of dunks, ending the half with an 8-point lead. The Maali trailed throughout the second half, with the gap between the teams widening to a maximum of 16 before settling to a final score of 70-81 to UTS. Nick Blight was the Maali's top scorer for this match, with 17 points, followed by Nicholas Floyd and Rhys Hohenstein, who both scored 12 points.
Wednesday's matches against The University of Sydney also began with the women's match. Sydney started off strong, scoring a 3-pointer within the first 40 seconds of the match, quickly followed by a 2-point lay-up. This was answered with a 3-pointer from Rylee Kerr, however Sydney continued to score and extended their lead to 8 points. Despite scores from the Maali, the first half of the game concluded with Sydney holding a 13-point lead. Sydney's team continued to widen throughout the second half despite the Maali's efforts across the board, concluding with a score of 54-80 to Sydney. Zoe Shanahan was a standout player for the Maali in this game, scoring 11 points and chalking up 5 assists. Both Jenna Teasdale and Rylee Kerr also scored 8 points in the match.
The final match of this double header featured the Maali men. After winning the jump ball, the Maali scored within 15 seconds to get 2 points on the board. Sydney took a small lead, however the Maali were close behind,, and even retook the lead with under 3 minutes remaining in the first quarter. However, Sydney was back in the lead by the end of the quarter, and continued to slowly pull ahead. The first half ended with Sydney holding an 11-point lead. The Maali struggled to score during the third quarter, only chalking up 6 points. During the final period, the Maali started seeing more points up on the board, however so did the visitors, and the game ended with a score of 48-72 to Sydney. Nicholas Floyd was the top scorer of the match with 20 points, and also took 23 rebounds, the most out of both teams.
Despite the losses on paper, all four matches were closely contested and provided valuable learning experiences for the Maali.
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