date_range Published 24 May 2019

A 30-point night from Olivia O’Neill helped Ajax bounce back from its first loss.

The women’s club basketball defending champions claimed a 54-49 win over Andy Bay Kavanagh on Tuesday night.

It also ended Kavanagh’s unbeaten run to start to the competition.

Kavanagh had started well and led 20-11 at the first break on the back of two three-pointers from Annabelle Ring (15 points).

Ajax rallied in the second quarter as O’Neill continued to score consistently and Laura Taylor chipped in with six points.

It held Kavanagh to just two points, while piling in 15 itself to jump ahead 26-22 at halftime.

That grew to 38-32 at the final break, before 10 final-quarter points from O’Neill allowed Ajax to close the game out.

Varsity followed last week’s win over Ajax by handing the Andy Bay Falcons a second close loss in as many weeks.

Tara Clement hit four three-pointers in a 22-point performance, to help Varsity to a 57-55 win.

It trailed 17-10 at the end of the first quarter, but gradually ate into that deficit and trailed by just two at the end of the third quarter.

At the other end the Falcons found scoring from a range of players, notably Nicole Chin, Eileen Jansen and Jordyn Chin, all top-scoring with 10 points.

They were unable to hold off Varsity through the final quarter though; eight points from Clement helped Varsity edge in front.

Meanwhile the South Pac Magic rode a strong second half to beat South Pac OGHS 71-45.

Fay Fualau had 26 points as the side powered away from a 29-26 halftime lead to claim its second win of the season.

B Grade Results

South Pac Magic Purple 64 def 22 OU Gold

South Pac Coasters 43 def 31 Ajax Miners

OU Blue 66 def 36 South Pac Magic Black