Manchester Mystics have added Australian/British forward Samantha Roscoe for the remainder of the 2017-18 WBBL season and she will make her debut this weekend.

Graduating from the University of North Dakota earlier this year, she averaged a double-digit scoring return during her senior year with more than 10 points per game, as well as 5 rebounds per outing. Roscoe has also played recently in Australia with Lakeside Lightning.

“She has only been here a few days, but has settled straight in and we are very excited to have added Samantha to our roster,” enthused Mystics’ play-caller Jeff Jones.

“She brings us some real size at 6ft 3in tall and she will really help us and especially Dom [Allen] in the paint.

“A highly skilled player, Samantha also has a strong basketball IQ and when you take the whole package she offers into account, we are confident she will be a major asset for us and the league.

“We are looking forward to her making her debut this Saturday,” added Jones.

Mystics face BA London Lions at the National Basketball Performance Centre in a 3pm tip-off.

By the way, she’s famous for making this shot:

Manchester Mystics’ Georgia Jones and Dominique Allen make the WBBL Stat Stars list for the month of October.

WBBL Stats Stars for October
Mystics’ @gljones4
22ppg (3rd) 6.3apg (joint 1st) 90.9% ft% (1st) #Molton WBBL Player of the Month pic.twitter.com/8ePNSagPn6 — Manchester Mystics (@Mcr_Mystics) November 2, 2017

Jones averaged 22 points per game (3rd) dished out a 6.3 assists per game (joint 1st) and led the league in free-throw percentage with 90.9% from the charity stripe over the course of the month of October, to earn Molton Player of the month. 

WBBL Stats Stars for October
Mystics’ @dom_allen12
66.7% FG% (1st) pic.twitter.com/tOW7WnJ4Vq — Manchester Mystics (@Mcr_Mystics) November 2, 2017

Allen shot a league leading 66.72% from the field.

Manchester Mystics’ playmaker Georgia Jones has been handed the prestigious Molten WBBL Player of the Month award in recognition of her productive start to the new campaign.

No stranger to the monthly accolade, the Great Britain guard has showcased her skills once again with some stellar contributions that have returned a superb 22 points per game.

Jones leads the league in free-throw shooting and has also got her perimeter game going in impressive fashion – converting 50% from long-range, which is the second best in the league.

Always one of the leading lights, it will come as little surprise to followers of the WBBL that Jones is co-leader of the assists chart. She has created for her colleagues as usual with an excellent 6.3 assists per outing so far.

Jones fought off competition from Ashley Harris of Nottingham Wildcats and Alison Gorrell of Team Northumbria to take the award.

Source: WBBL

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing to be thrown in at the deep end or not. It’s how I was ‘taught’ to swim but it didn’t enable me to go on to win an Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres front crawl! I digress (as I often do). Before last Saturday, only 4 of Mystics new U14 twelve strong squad had ever represented the club at national league level and 2 of the 4 had had – not many people stutter when they write! – limited experience. Not ideal when your first conference game of the season is Sheffield away. (Never an easy fixture for all sorts of reasons.)

Would we sink or would we swim better than I can? In the event, we swam as well as anything aquatic. Prior to game, I was convinced I knew the make-up of their side. (Players not brand of lipstick, eye shadow etc.) I expected just 1 major player from last season’s team which reached the Final Fours to be involved. More incompetence! It turned out to be as many as 4. What I assumed would be akin to a test on the 11 times table had instantly become upgraded to an A level pure maths examination, particularly as 1 of the 4 was England U16 squad member, Abby Whitehouse.

I began with the under-sized 5 of Lily Hayes, Charli Wroe, Olivia Forster, Emily Wood and Jo Vourliotis. (Our 2 biggest players, Zara Masada-Tate and Eleni Vourliotis are both injured.) It became instantly apparent that we were as fit for purpose as several Presidents of the USA have been in recent times. We were confronted with too many physical match-up problems and soon trailed 2-6 in front of a healthy crowd. (None of them looked ill!)

We desperately needed someone to compete on the boards so I brought on the supremely athletic Kizzi Spence. Within 4 minutes, Kizzi helped turn the opening skirmishes in our favour. We now led 10-6 and despite our relative inexperience, looked to be the equals of our prestigious opponents. Our young players then held their nerve to shade the first quarter 15-13 as the closing 3 minutes consisted almost exclusively of our Charli driving to basket, being unceremoniously whacked and composing herself to convert the resultant free throws and their Abby powering her way through either on blistering give n goes or running through (literally) our defenders to secure offensive rebounds and convert unerringly.

Things got even better for us at the beginning of the second period. Our decision making remained sound and confidence continued to grow. Lily was doing a fine job containing Abby which severely hampered Sheffield’s scoring options. The hosts were having difficulty containing the skill and speed of Charli, Olivia and Kizzi. Over a productive 11 minute stretch, we outscored the opposition 22-10 which meant that with 14 minutes gone, we led 24-16. It then looked as if it would become 26-16 as Kizzi flew (she has wings!) past 3 defenders en route to basket. Unfortunately, she and a fourth defender collided heavily enough for this to be Kizzi’s final act on the day. She spent the rest of the day in A & E and was greatly missed.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, it coincided with Sheffield subsequently being awarded as many as 16 free throws in the remaining 5 minutes (the equivalent of a world record 128 if repeated over a full game)! These 2 things enabled our opponents to go from 8 points down to 4 up- just 3 short of a well-known fizzy drink! They went into the interval 30-34 to the good and the whole complexion of the contest had been turned on its head.

That said, Mystics took it all in their stride and came out after the interval in a positive frame of mind. The girls’ sheer effort and determination was such that for fully 9 minutes they restricted Sheffield’s potent offense to a mere 2 field baskets, an outstanding achievement by all concerned. Tellingly, however, the home side were awarded a further 8 free-throws, 6 of which were converted. In view of the fact that we were unable to utilise our most productive weapon, the fast break, due to the opposition’s dominance of the boards, we had to seek alternative ways to stay in touch. We did and again, shaded the quarter, 17-16.

This meant we entered the final period with all to play for at 47-50 but we were in foul trouble. Key players Charli, Olivia and 11 year old Daisy Bryan, who, as with the other 2, had made significant contributions at both ends of the floor, plus our leading rebounder, Esha Nayar, were all on either 3 or 4 fouls. Undaunted, in Kizzi’s absence, all 9 remaining Mystics on show- those already mentioned plus 4 more debutants, the tireless Nia Molloy and Emily Wood as well as the battling cousins, Lia and Jo Vourliotis- continued to display great resolve, giving their all for the team. As a result, we again shaded the quarter, 17-16.

Against all the odds, Mystics had managed to win 2 of the 3 quarters contested so far but still trailed 47-50. This was far from insurmountable, provided that we still had the necessary energy and focus to compete at a level previously unvisited by most of the team. We did so for 3 minutes and at 51-55 were like town criers- in with a shout! It seemed to be anybody’s game but Abby Whitehouse had other ideas. She used her physical superiority effectively enough to dominate proceedings for the next telling 4 minutes. She proved unstoppable and almost single-handed forged a crucial 15 point lead for her side. Far from crumble, Mystics dug deep and rallied to cut the margin to 8 and closing before running out of time.

Almost everyone likes to win but sometimes the performance is just as important as the result. This was one such occasion. Every Mystic did herself and her club proud with the manner in which they conducted themselves on and of court. It is very much to their credit that Sheffield’s accomplished coaching staff felt so threatened that they decided to give only 6 of their 10 players anything like meaningful court time. Of those 6, our gallant young team succeeded in almost completely nullifying 4 of them but we could not match up with the other 2 who were good enough and strong enough to amass a match-winning combined 58 points.

Our players will have gained an enormous amount of game experience (as well as plenty of bruises) which will undoubtedly stand them in good stead for the remainder of the season. Thank you so much to all parents and supporters, plus helpers-in-chief, James, Sam and Carys for your assistance and cooperation. It is much appreciated.

Next up on 22 October at 12.30 is a (very) local derby against Mystics II.

Jim

Mystics 1 U14 followed up their tournament success at Northampton with a fine all-round team performance to overcome a very capable, well-organised Derby Trailblazers 83-72 last Sunday.

With all 12 Mystics getting on court in the first quarter, it may well have been difficult to find ant rhythm. It wasn’t.

We won the opening 10 minutes 21-12 but Derby had sufficient talent to respond.

They upped their game and went on a potentially damaging 4-16 run as Mystics over-dribbled and started playing street ball. A time-out was called to offer advice as to how to stop this.

The players listened and reacted admirably enough to put together a 14-2 run of their own to go into the half-time break 39-30 ahead.

We then played some eye-catching up-tempo basketball to open up a 22 point lead at 65-43.

This meant key players could now be withdrawn and all 12 Mystics could end up having had meaningful court time (which each of them made good use of.) Thanks to all parents for their much-valued support.

Next up is a ‘friendly’ against Mystics 2 U16 at 1:00pm next Saturday followed by our opening league fixture on 14th October away to Sheffield Hatters.

Jim

The Mystics 2 U14 Development Squad competed in the Northants Tournament yesterday in a Round Robin:

Mystics 21 – 34 Southend

Mystics 12 – 19 Hounslow

Mystics 22 – 8 Northants 1

Mystics 20 – 6 Northants 2

U14 Mystics 2 U14 Squad: Carina, Elizandra, Tallulah, Maisie, Ruby, Emily, Izzy, Ndey, Saffron, Rae, Kady and Jouna.

All the girls got good court time, played very hard, including the mini-marvel, Kady (the wizard) and with great spirit. Many thanks to all the parents for their fantastic support.

We are on the way!