Rossendale Raptors Ladies gained their first win against the young, developing team of West Craven.  This seasons new look Raptors set off at a pace with strong defensive play, and great movement of the ball to find the open player at the offensive end.  The experience of the Raptors showed and confidence grew.  Before the end of the half the Raptors were almost scoring at will with 16 points in the final 4 minutes, 10pts of which were scored by Beth Cattle. The half time whistle blew with the Raptors leading 34-0.   

West Craven started the second half strong, attacking the Raptors defence.  This caused the Raptors to get into foul trouble quickly, though West Craven struggled to capitalise. The Raptors regained control and continued to force mistakes from their young opponents.  Steals and interceptions continued to allow the guards to run, while the forwards settled the play and applied pressure from the inside through cuts and dominating the boards at both ends of the court. 

West Craven were rewarded for their persistence in the fourth quarter scoring 8pts taking the final score to 82-9. A confident performance allowed a spread of points across the team sheet.  Beth Cattle led the scoring with 18, closely followed by Michelle Gilliver and Michelle McManus (15 and 13 respectively).  10 points were scored by Sarah Gallagher, 8 by Dianne Tibbs, 6 by Viv Calderbank and Bryony Carroll. 4pts by Jackie Rees and Sarah Darmer with 2pts completing the scoring.  Other players that contributed with well-rounded performances are Lisa Dickinson, Lizzie Pollard and Niamh Brockenshaw.  It was great to see so many of the squad there to watch the team claim our first win, showing the team spirit within the squad.  It was also great to see so many family and club members there to support the ladies team.