The Queanbeyan Yowies women's side continued their sterling form on Saturday afternoon in Goulburn, with a 52-59 victory over the home side.
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It was Queanbeyan's third win on the trot, and their first victory of the season not to go into overtime, with which coach Brian Demmery was extremely pleased.
As this is the Yowies women's first year playing in more than three years, they were relative unknowns when the season began.
But in the space of three rounds, they have gone from having questions marks over their heads to being touted as the tournament favourites.
"It's not surprising with the [calibre of the] girls," Demmery said.
"I know a lot of them from previous teams, but I didn't know what the standard of the opposition was going to be like, so it is a surprise [in that regard]."
Demmery has not coached in this division before, and he said that he was pleased with the level of competition his side has faced.
"It's pretty good, really nice and tough," he said.
"It's not ticky-tacky fouls, the girls actually play [hard]."
Playing against the Bears at the Goulburn Basketball Stadium, locally known as the Bear Pit, can be a daunting task for visiting sides, but Demmery said that the team is improving each week.
"Our level of play is getting better," he said.
"We're adjusting to the tempo and the physicality of the game."
Queanbeyan led Goulburn for much of the match, as their physically bigger outfit and more accurate shooting enabled them to maintain a strong lead.
At one point in the third quarter, the gap between the two sides blew out to 16 points and threatened to become a thrashing. However, Goulburn managed to haul itself back into the match and reduce the margin to seven points by the final buzzer, which Bears coach Eddie Teagues said was a fair representation of the difference between the teams.
"Three of our junior players are playing in Albury, so we were a little bit short on the bench," Teague said.
"So I was happy with the girls, and the fact that it could have been a 20-point game.
"To the girls' credit, they fought right to the end and seven points is probably a fair enough score in the end. We turned the ball over a little bit too much, but I was happy with the effort."
Following this victory, the next step for the Yowies will be to maintain their form and winning mentality until their next game, which is in a month's time.
"We'll have some practice games against some of the boys' teams," Demmery said.
"I might give them a night off during the week, see how they're travelling. Because we don't have a full roster at the moment, it's a little bit difficult on some of them. Playing at this tempo and physicality is wearing us down a bit, so a week or two off will be good."