Oaklands Wolves’ young side may be learning fast in the Women’s British Basketball League but one lesson still to be learned is how to deal with the top sides.
The St Albans-based club fell to a 87-66 defeat at home to Leicester Riders on Saturday evening, the visitors big favourites to lift "all of the silverware" according to Wolves head coach Lee Ryan.
But they were in the game for long periods and went into half-time just four points adrift before a slump in the third quarter and the final moments of the fourth made the gap in the score larger than it should have been.
And star player Anneke Schlueter says they have to use the loss as an example of where they need to improve.
"Leicester have a lot of talent in each position and we have to play really well in every quarter to be in the game," said the 24-year-old German.
"And we let them pull away at the end.
"It was way better [than the defeat in the WBBL Trophy in September] and we did a better job of coming out strong in the first quarter.
"We're playing well together too. We just need to work on our defence against the better teams.
"We need to adjust slightly and play a little bit harder than we normally do in those positions.
"But we are improving every week so that is good.
"[The Oaklands players] are learning and they are getting that experience on the court.
"They know they need to step up their competition to the level of the league."
This year has seen Schlueter step up her game dramatically and she sits third in the average points table across the WBBL.
She led her team in scoring against Leicester too with 22 points and she says she is determined to help the club in any way possible.
"I'm trying to take more responsibility with Roya Rustamzada not being here and because we have more of a younger team," she admitted.
"I'm trying to be more responsible for my game and be more consistent.
"We haven't really talked about play-offs yet. We're going more game to game and looking to improve and play our style.
"But for me the play-offs for sure are the goal."
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