Sarah Thomson remains up-beat as she prepares for Saturday’s basketball test at home to Leicester (1pm) despite the disappointment of Caledonian Pride missing out of a victory on their debut.
Thomson, who is returning to full fitness following an ankle injury, believes last Saturday was an excellent day for women’s sport in Scotland.
And the guard, who was last weekend’s Most Valuable Player, said: “We’re all really looking forward to getting back out there in front of another strong home support in what will be a really challenging match-up against Leicester.”
Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated WBBL tie between Caledonia Pride and Cardiff Met Archers at Riccarton was the professional team’s first home fixture since entering the WBBL.
It was a game of extreme highs and lows as some of Scotland’s most talented players took to the floor at a sell-out National Performance Centre.
With a league-wide record attendance, the 300-plus crowd got behind the home side despite a slow start as Cardiff raced to a 9-2 lead.
Caledonia Pride as the team found their feet with help from home-bred talent Thomson and American Tricia Oakes. After ten minutes of end-to-end action, Pride only trailed 17-20.
Thomson continued her fine shooting form from behind the arc and mid-way through the second she hit three unanswered triples to give her team a nine-point lead with four minutes remaining in the half but Cardiff’s cut that to three and as the half-time buzzer sounded.
Caledonia Pride started strong following the break with an 8-0 run to start the second-half and Pride held a ten-point advantage with ten minutes left.
The fourth quarter saw Great Britain captain, Stef Collins, step up for her Cardiff side, giving them control and direction and Pride team found themselves with one final shot to win the game with 0.4 seconds on the clock.
Peacock was chosen to inbound the ball and found fellow centre Tricia Oakes whose attempt was waved off by the officials, sending the game into overtime. The more experienced Cardiff side took control to run out eventual 74-83 winners.
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