Lady Tanners Keep Streak Alive, Win Fourth Straight

Aggressive defense defined Thursday's game between the Woburn Tanners and Wakefield Warriors.  Both teams struggled offensively, but the Tanners were able to put more points on the board to defeat the Warriors, extending their winning streak to four games. The Lady Tanners are undefeated on the season.  

Woburn head coach Steve Sullivan said he was happy with the win, but also noted that this was not his team's best game.

"We turned the ball over a lot, missed some makeable shots, committed some silly fouls, didn't box out a few times, but the girls gutted it out," said Sullivan. "They didn't give their best performance, but they found a way to win and that's good for them." 

Woburn exited the first quarter with a 10-9 lead over Wakefield.  The Tanners extended that lead to 5 points by the end of the second quarter through hitting some three-point shots and making free throws.

The Warriors came out strong in the third quarter and, although they were unable to attain a lead, they came within one point of the Tanners, and began the fourth quarter down 29-33. 

However, offensive woes plagued the Wakefield squad early in the fourth quarter as they were unable to score until halfway through the period.  Woburn took advantage of Wakefield's mental errors to create turnovers and build their lead.  The Tanners scored fifteen through the final quarter en route to their 47-38 victory.

Wakefield's head coach, Meghan O'Connell was pleased with her team's aggressive defensive play, but says they need to execute better offensively in the future in order to win. 

"Defensively, I was pleased with them giving up 47 points," she said. "That's a pretty good defensive effort. Offensively, we had too many turnovers and we need to take care of the ball better and execute better so we can score more points."

Woburn remains undefeated through the start of the season, having achieved their fourth straight victory with Thursday's win. Sullivan hopes to build off his team's effort in the game to continue their successful play, but knows it will not be easy. 

"We got a good record, but we need to improve," he said. "We need to get a little bit better, and play hard in practice, so that it will carry over into the games."