The Bapco Ladies Basketball Team continued their good form in the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) Ladies Basketball League, easing past Al Hidd Club 67-48 to get a second win under their belts at the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) Court in Um Al Hassam.
Both teams began soundly in an encounter which seemed evenly poised throughout, in spite of the scoreboard.
Bapco’s new trump card, Dennis, set the pace scoring 5 points in as many minutes as Bapco drew first blood going ahead 7-6 in the fifth minute of the match. Despite determined defence from the Hidd hopefuls, a well-executed strategy by Bapco’s duo of Reem Al Shaalan and Maryam Nooh complemented by Haneen’s reliable netting raised the level of play and propelled Bapco to a 14-10 lead at the end of Quarter One.
The second quarter was no different in terms of momentum despite an initial stranglehold by both teams, as a total of only 7 points had been scored with play entering the later minutes. Scoring opportunities were much less for ladies of both teams, with the intensity of defense taking centre stage. Dennis then played a big part in boosting the overall morale of the Bapco team, bringing in the points and maintaining the tempo with regular 2-pointers to allow Bapco to pull away to a 24-15 lead by halftime after a 3-pointer by Shaalan from the wide end of the court.
Bapco accelerated further in the second half despite persistent attempts at defence by Hidd, who were unable to put a lid on what was slowly but surely becoming a decisive gap on the scoreboard. Aside from Hidd’s No. 12 having scored more than half of the team’s points, they had little to work with as Bapco soared ahead 51-32 courtesy of Nooh’s 3-pointers to take the match into its latter stages. As though Bapco’s comfortable lead throughout the match wasn’t impressive enough, a thorough performance by the ladies headed by Dennis and Al Shalaan produced a 20-point lead, and with the scores at 54-34 with 8 minutes on the clock, Hidd’s late attempt at a fightback seemed rather futile. Bapco eventually sealed their second victory of the league 67-48 at the hour, with games against Muharraq and GOYS to be played in the weeks to follow.