League Champions Again!

MK Breakers Women (85) v Tees Valley Mohawks (56)

For the second year running, the MK Breakers Women are league champions after defeating Tees Valley Mohawks 85-56 in front of their loyal and enthusiastic home supporters.

On the eve of International Women’s Day, the fans at Bletchley Leisure Centre were treated to a fantastic all-round team performance with every single player making a valuable contribution.

MK had not forgotten that Tees Valley had given them one of only two losses earlier in the season and they knew that another loss would potentially hand the league title to Hemel Storm, who were playing City of Birmingham Rockets later in the day. The scenario was clear – a win would secure the title – so Coach Round needed to add some extra motivation.

That came in the form of one of the team’s fan-favourites, Tetiana Shevchyk, who travelled over from Ukraine less than two years ago and is playing in her first season in the National League. She’ll soon be travelling back to her home country to see family and friends and Coach Round wanted her to be able to tell them that she’s a league champion. The team understood the assignment.

Priority number one for the game was to try to limit Tees Valley’s GB International and former Newcastle Eagles star, Abby Lowe, who was averaging just under 30 points per game over the last six games and had scored 43 points against Manchester Mystics the previous week. The ‘stop Lowe’ defensive duties were shared between Sarah Round, Tetiana Shevchyk and Kirsten Moran, and the strategy worked. Lowe was held to just four points in the first quarter and finished the game with 13 points – well below her average.

Her GB Maxi teammate Vilma Jurgaityte stepped up and netted 22 points over the 40 minutes, which included six 3-pointers, but they were two of the just five Mohawks who contributed to their points total. In contrast, 11 of the 12 Breakers made it onto the scoresheet with four players achieving double figures. The ever-reliable and ever-improving Lauren Dabbs led the way with 16 points and it was very satisfying to see Tetiana Shevchyk just one behind with 15 points. The other two with double-figures were Sarah Round (12) and Lauren Milne (10).

MK scored 23 points in the first quarter and followed that with another 22 points before halftime. Defensively, they limited Tees Valley to 13 points and 10 points giving them a 45-23 mid-game lead. Coach Round was aware that the Mohawks often finished strong so he urged his team to stay focused. Once again, the Breakers dominated most of the third period and extended their lead. With just over a minute before the final break, the score was 63-32 in MK’s favour and the team slipped into cruise mode. However, Tees Valley sent a warning to their hosts in the form of three unanswered 3-pointers which closed the gap back to 22 points (63-41).

Early in the final period, Tees Valley continued to close the gap, but successful outside-the-arc shots from Lauren Dabbs, Tetiana Shevchyk and Ellie Moran stretched the lead back to 25 points and the game was beyond Tees Valley’s reach. It was somehow poetic that Shevchyk’s final bucket gave the Breakers their largest lead of the game (29 points) and the buzzer not only signalled MK’s 85-56 victory, but also the league title.

The team will soon start the preparations for a playoff run to see if they can match last season's achievement by making the final and then exceed it by leaving with the trophy.

With home court secured for the playoffs, Breakers Women will await to find out their quarter final opponents. The game will be played on Saturday 28th March, 5pm tip off at Bletchley Leisure Centre.