By Leah Bower
CARDIFF University 3rds beat University of South Wales 1sts 38-25 with a strong final quarter after a close match.
The teams were evenly matched in the middle of the court making clever passes, but Cardiff came out the stronger side.
Cardiff opened the scoring early in the match and stayed on top despite the fact USW worked some good moves in the middle third, but to no avail.
USW started to build their points through Cerys Bush and Ali Chan, but Cardiff maintained their lead, heading into the second quarter at 8-5.
USW’s Nau Rajapakse made vital interceptions to minimise the visitors’ threat, but Cardiff’s Carys Underdown kept them firmly in the lead with clinical shooting, ending the half 17-12.
USW started the third quarter strongly and closed the points gap, getting to within one through Chan and Bush at one stage.
But Cardiff’s attacking threat became too strong and they re-established their dominance making the score 24-21.
Despite a good start to the decisive final quarter, USW were not able to build on the momentum they had created.
Cardiff pulled further ahead as USW started losing possession in the middle third and the away side capitalised on the tiring USW team by scoring 17 points to end the match 25-38.
It was a first win of the season for Cardiff whereas USW are still looking for a their first success in the Western Tier 2B league as they look ahead to facing Hartpury 1sts next week.