Photo Credit – Anthony Furina / Adelaide University
2-Minute Read
Women
The Women booked their home final at the Pridham Hall with a strong performance over the University of Newcastle 62-71 at the Forum in New South Wales.
With UON coming off a tough matchup with UNSW the previous day despite no travel the Waatu had them ripe for the picking but it took some time to reap the fruits. In a script similar to previous matches the Waatu found themselves in a first half dog fight also down star player Caitlin Shillabeer. UON’s Sophie Brennan off the back of a strong game the previous day proved to be a tough cover for the Waatu however they kept pace with the home side despite trailing 33-24 at the main change.
The script continued to follow suite as the Waatu swung momentum their own way thanks to their own sharpshooter. Enter Alecia Saldavia as she splashed a triple with the step back and along with the usual suspects of Wright and Turnbull flipped the game back in the Waatu’s team with a 9-27 term. It ensured a 42-51 lead heading into the last change.
Terran took charge in the fourth early on to take the Waatu to a 13-2 run to bury the game result nice and early. With both teams locked into finals heading into the final round both teams took the opportunity to release their bench and prepare for the Uni Nationals the week ahead before their quarter final match-ups.
Saldavia with four of five beyond the arc produced the season high 18 points while Sasha Hardin was consistent across four quarters with 13 points and Wright missed out on a triple double with a nine point, seven rebound and six steal performance along with four assists.
Men
It was a different story for the mens unfortunately falling to their 2025 opening round opponents in UON 82-74 at the Forum at NUSport.
Both Eddy and Jude Jennings again caused problems for the Waatu in the first term to have the Waatu down at the first change 24-15. It didn’t get much better in the second with the UON very conscious of Curtis Scott and his arsenal of offence – the Waatu struggling to string baskets together at a consistent rate. Coach Scott Freer turned to his pine and got some quality minutes from Mitch Cretan and Angus Crosby however still trailed 43-25 at the main break.
An attempted comeback was launched by Matt Thomson and Scott who made some key in roads to cut it back to 47-32 however the answers came from UON again through Jamal Shoaib and Jennings times two as they held a comfortable lead 59-45 heading into the last quarter.
Freer threw Thomas Mestrov into the contest looking for a spark and got some response as the Waatu finally got the margin under double digits 63-54. Charging home through Ayual Garang and Scott again with a huge triple reducing the margin to seven. Jude Jennings dropped a couple of handy ones for the home team but the Waatu continued to spar but wanted to get back in the fight. The story of the match continued however with every attempt to whittle the margin down including Garang’s get to the basket make as UON finally put the spirited Waatu out of the contest and setup a rematch for the quarter finals.
Curtis Scott finished with 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and steals with two blocks with Garang coming home strong for 17 points.
The Waatu Women and Men next their quarter final match-ups with the Men back in a rematch with UON tonight in Newcastle while the Women will be gearing up for their first home final against their quarter final opponents of 2025 in USYD but this time it’s on the new floor at the Pridham Hall
Women – UON 62 (Brennan 26, Kirkby 13, Rudder 9) defeated by AU Waatu 71 (Saldavia 18, Hardin 13, Wright 9, Uzcategui-Montenegro, Turnbull 9)
Men – UON 82 (J Jennings 18, Shoaib 17, Sleap 14, E Jennings, Marsters 10) defeated AU Waatu 74 (Scott 25, Garang 17, Crosby 15, Mestrov 10)
Catch all the action of the Mens Quarter Final against UON from this Tuesday 6 October & our home Womens Quarter Final against USYD on Thursday 8 October on the UBL website and stay tuned to the crossoverdribble for match reports and features throughout the season.
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