LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter

Lady Panthers' Tania Edwards (left) closely defends Andrea Williams of Metrobelles during a JABA Women's Basketball League match at the National Stadium courts on Sunday. Metrobelles won 61-46. - photo by LeVaughn Flynn

With both teams claiming fatigue an issue, Metrobelles prevailed as the fitter of the two on Sunday in the JABA Women's Basketball League, beating Lady Panthers 61-46 at the National Stadium courts.

As early as the first quarter hands were akimbo and chests were heaving heavily.

"As you can see we are not fit so we had to go back to the fundamentals in the second half," said Metrobelles coach, Kevin Alexander, after his team outscored their opponents 38-15 in the second half for their second win from four games.

Andrea Williams led the scoring for the winners with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Tania Edwards had 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals for Lady Panthers.

Alexander added that after being out-played in the first half, the team decided to play to its strength.

"We tried to use what we have, move the ball around and we had bigger players inside than they did and once we got the ball inside they began to foul. Our major problem is fitness, but what helped us tonight is we had more experienced players than Panthers."

Weaknesses

Panthers' coach Donald Bimmer said his team's weaknesses are all because of their poor conditioning.

"In the last two games we've played, we've led for the first half but collapsed in the third quarter and struggled to get back in the game in the fourth quarter and that's as a result of our fitness," said Bimmer.

Lady Panthers led the entire first half, going into the third quarter with a 31-23 lead.

However, they were caught napping and Metrobelles went on a 10-0 run for their first lead of the game. It didn't get much better for Panthers as they scored only one point in the third quarter as they watched the lead expand to 41-32.

Lady Panthers made a push in the fourth quarter as they began making the shots they were missing in the previous quarter. Consecutive shots from Shawnel Spencer and Edwards brought them within three points (46-49), but the tired legs began to get the better of them. With hardly anyone defending, Metrobelles went on a 12-0 run to end the game.