Falkirk Fury too cool for Kats as they win tightly-contested battle

In an almost identical scoreline from the matchday one at Grangemouth earlier in the season, the match saw Fury take the win, but crucially by two points more this time around.

Game one between the sides had finished at 51-44 to Kats, so the head to head result was always going to be vital in the placings in the league for both teams and the finish could not have been any more dramatic.

Fury, who had pulled back to take the lead late on in the final quarter, found themselves seven points ahead and tied overall with three seconds of the game remaining when Fury's Lucy Rafferty was fouled with those three seconds to play at her end of the court, giving the Falkirk side an opportunity to take the head to head.

Rafferty cooly sank both free throws for the nine point win and what could be third place in the Championship, one place above the Kats.

The match had started slowly with the sides tied at ten apiece after the first period.

First year junior Edie McBain came into the starting line up and scored Fury's first basket of the game. Also in the starting five were Jenna Beattie, Abby Rutter, Junior Emily Dagger and point guard Shannon Flippard.

The second period saw Fury hold the home side to five points, while putting 15 on the board themselves for a 10 point lead at the half.

Jenna Beattie added seven second quarter points to her five in the first quarter for 12 points personal at the half, that included two from behind the arc.

The third quarter saw only Beattie and Scotland university pick Abby Rutter get on the scoresheet as Kats reversed the second quarter scoreline, taking the third 14-4 for the teams to be tied going into the final stanza.

Lucy Rafferty came up up big for Fury in the closing minutes as she racked up seven points personal to help Fury win the final period 23 - 14.

Jenna Beattie finished top scorer with 20 points with Shannon Flippard on nine, Abby Rutter on six and Emily Dagger on five.

Fury Headcoach John Bunyan commentated to Heraldsport -

" This was a great result and shows the character of the players, bouncing back from what was a big loss in their last game to league leaders Edinburgh University. Once again the combination of some of our younger junior players and our experienced players proved a positive. This was game we had to work really hard to get the win and full credit to Shannon at the guard spot, who had to play 40 minutes, as did Jenna, both making big contributions in the win."