A 66-69 defeat to Manchester Met Mystics handed Gloucester City Queens their first loss of the WBBL season in a nail biting finish at Oxstalls Sport Park.
The Queens looked down and out midway through the 4th quarter but almost made a dramatic comeback to send the game into overtime.
Head coach Jay Marriott remained positive after the game and said that it would be a learning curve to his new team.
“Yeah, we’re obviously disappointed to lose because we’re all competitors but we’ve lost to a perennial playoff team.
“Right now, we’re ‘Live and Die by the three’ a bit too much but then that got us back into the game so we can’t necessarily complain.”
“For us though, we just need to keep working on our performances. We’re a little bit up and down at the minute, today you saw the worst of us but then in the fourth quarter, you also saw the best of us.”
Star guard Melita Emmanuel-Carr also spoke about the game and her return to the side after being sidelined through injury
“I think we all gel well together and that last three minutes definitely show that, but it’s about not getting into those situations in the first place so that’s a lesson learnt, and we’ll work on that for the future.
“I’m so grateful to be back on the court playing and I try to play like it’s my last game every game. I’m still not back to full fitness just yet but I’m excited for what’s to come.”
Emmanuel-Carr was just one assist short of a triple double after returning from the sideline but still insisted she wasn’t quite at full fitness.
Marlee Ball was also positive after the game and insisted the Queens would learn from the loss.
“It was just a few little mistakes that cost us today, if we’d have just ironed them out we’d have won the game but it’s all part of the learning experience of being a new team in the league.”
The Queens face another challenging test next weekend when they travel away to the league favourites London Lions for a 1:00pm tip off at Barking Abbey School but Marriott is looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s definitely going to be a tough game. We’re looking at it like we have nothing to lose going in, and a lot of people, especially in the media, think that when you go to London, you’re going to come off worse.”
All of the Gloucester City Queens games are available to stream on the WBBL YouTube channel.
