By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Elite Ballers came into game three hoping to complete a three-game sweep against the Foxxy Defenders in the New Providence Women’s Basketball Association (NPWBA) Finals. But their opponents turned the tides 76-59 to keep their season alive and force a game four.

The Defenders came into game three down 0-2 in the series but they managed to get their first win of the best-of-five championship matchup with a 17-point double-digit win at the DW Davis Gymnasium on Saturday night.

The two championship contenders will meet again in a crucial game four at 7:30pm on Tuesday night. Tiffany Wildgoose, who 7:30pm on Tuesday night.

Tiffany Wildgoose, who plays point guard for the Defenders, said it was important for the team to execute their game plan en route to the victory in the elimination gaame.

“It feels good. We were down but came out and did what we had to do. We are gonna come out and do the same thing we did today - play hard, play patiently and play our game,” Wildgoose said.

The Elite Ballers started the first five minutes of the contest ahead by five but the lead was short-lived.

The Defenders chipped away at the narrow margin thanks to Philicia Kelly, who converted on a smooth layup to push her team ahead 17-13 with 2:08 remaining in the opening period of play. They wrapped up the first period in charge 19-13.

Kelly terrorised the Elite Ballers in the paint area every chance that she got. She stuffed the stat sheet with a dominant triple-double performance of a game-high 27 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists to will her team to the much needed win.

Roberta Quant and Chrishanda Rahming were equally as impressive. Quant scored 20 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds while shooting the ball 10-for-20 from the field.

Meanwhile, Rahming gave the Defenders 15 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.

National team member Valerie Nesbitt canned a big three-pointer to place the Elite Ballers within one (22-21) on the scoreboard early in the second quarter.

However, the Defenders put their feet on the gas and reeled off a 10-2 run to lead 32-23 with less than 2:00 minutes remaining until the halftime break.

The Defenders never let up and were in charge at the break 36-25.

“We decided to slow down and play our game and not theirs by not rushing the ball and passing the ball to our bigs,” Wildgoose said.

The Elite Ballers came out of the break rejuvenated. They switched to a full-court press defence and decided to push the ball in transition to generate more offence which seemed to pay dividends early in the second half.

After falling behind by 15 early on, the Elite Ballers started to cut into the double-digit lead. Nesbitt did everything she could for the Elite Ballers, dropping a team-high 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

She scored on a layup and then assisted on a timely three-pointer knocked down by Shenell Stewart which erased the lead to just 12 (42-30). Both teams went through a scoring drought but the Elite Ballers got a crafty layup from Geraniqua Bethel to continue their scoring run.

Despite getting within striking distance, the Elite Ballers could never get over the hump and the Defenders wrapped up the third quarter firmly in charge 60-47.

The Elite Ballers played catch-up the entire fourth quarter which concluded early due to what was deemed as unsportsmanlike conduct from the Elite Ballers coach Ryan Turnquest. The coach was ejected from the contest with less than 2:00 minutes on the game clock but neglected to leave the bench area within a specified time frame which resulted in the game ending early and a Defenders win.

The victors were in control on the boards, using their size to outrebound the Elite Ballers 62 to 45. They also shot the ball 48 per cent in the paint and 45 per cent overall.

Coach Turnquest believed his team came out a bit lackadaisical with the championship on the line.

“The girls came out flat today. I guess it was the excitement of knowing that they could close out for the championship tonight but they came out real flat and their energy was down. We knew we were gonna have a tougher battle tonight because these women are playing for pride as well and trying to avoid getting swept by the young girls,” he said.

He also did not mince words when it came down to the way game three was officiated.

“The officiating wasn’t the best tonight from half of the referees. It was lopsided and that is from my perspective but we lost and they won the game. We will be back here on Tuesday to close it out,” he said.

Game four will get underway at 7:30pm on Tuesday at the DW Davis Gymnasium. Who will take the 2024 NPWBA crown?