The Stawell Lady Wildcats will travel to Warrnambool to take on the Mermaids in round three of the Country Basketball League south west conference at St Joseph’s Primary School on Sunday.
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It will be Warrnambool’s second match for the weekend after they host the Mt Gambier Lakers on Friday night.
The double header means Stawell will go into the match as the fresher team.
Stawell coach Grace Bibby said the team need to start the game better than they did last week. "Hopefully we come out hard from the tip off and catch them off guard," Bibby said.
"Warrnambool will be going into the match thinking we are easy beats but we think we can compete."
The Lady Wildcats were off the pace in the first game and with the inclusion of some new players they hope to rectify that.
Kristy Matthews has been named to play her first game of the season while Hannah Bird returns to the line up after three seasons.
The inclusions to the team will give Stawell another scoring option and allow them to rotate more.
Bibby said the changes should create a more balanced team across the court.
"We were a bit lost all over the court last week,” she said.
“We sat down and really reviewed the game.
“Another four hours of training this week as a group can make a big difference on Sunday."
The Lady Wildcats continue to bring in new faces into the team each week which the team is starting to see the results of.
Bibby said the extra players just need to play their roles.
"Our struggling numbers means we have limited depth but with a few players coming in we should be able to get more run out of our bench during games,” she said.
Bibby said the team has trained hard on their defensive work to try and lock down its opponents.
“Our main concern last week was that we did not protect the ball enough,” she said.
“We gave up far too many transition lay ups against the Lady Hornets.
“We think we have worked on some answers for that.”
The match will also be somewhat of a grudge match with former Stawell playing coach Rhi Davis suiting up for Warrnambool.
Bibby said during the game it will be about stopping Davis like any other opposing player.
"It is always good to play against people you have played against and with before,” she said.
“We play the game the same as we always would but basketball is great for a social life and no doubt we will catch up after the game and have a laugh."
Tip off is at noon.
