Lee Ryan felt a slow start to their WBBL Trophy game at Leicester Riders was the reason Oaklands Wolves slipped to a 95-83.
They trailed 27-15 after the opening 10 minutes but from then on there was nothing to separate the two sides.
And that fact gives the St Albans-based side’s head coach plenty of confidence.
He said: “It was important to give a better performance than last week and we did but a poor spell in first period ultimately cost us and defensively we are still off pace.
“If we could have stayed in contact with them going into the game the result could have been different, especially when you look at the second-half performance we put in.
“We have one more trophy game on Saturday and we will be using it as preparation for the return to league play.”
Anneke Schluter was Wolves’ top scorer on 21 while Roya Rustamzada managed 17.
They face Cardiff Met Archers on Saturday.
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