By Tara Murray
An early wake up call came at the perfect time for the Whittlesea Pacers in the Big V women’s division 1 competition.
Entering a women’s side for the first time in a number of years, the Pacers will have a lot of unknown challenges this season.
Coach Shannon Bodley came into the season confident that they had put together a good side, but a loss in round one made them reassess things a little bit.
“We had a little bit of a wake up call,” he said. “We had three practice matches and we thought we were going OK.
“It was a bit of a reality check in round one, but it was only our fourth game together. We changed a couple of things, and worked on some things as coaches and players.”
Bodley said having a wake up call like that wasn’t so bad early in the season and the side was able to bounce back in round two.
The Pacers opened their account with a 72-64 win against Melbourne University on Saturday night.
Hayley Sparks top scored with 12 points for the Pacers, as every player took to the court.
On Sunday, the Pacers beat the Camberwell Dragons, 93-52.
Meg Lucas top scored with 20 points off the bench as every player scored and no one played more than 21 minutes.
Bodley said one of their strengths this season was their depth.
“I’ve never had this much depth before,” he said. “We got everyone on the floor and we’re not relying on any player to play 30-plus minutes.
“That 20-25 minutes is a good balance of minutes for players to play. We’re not burning out the players.
“It’s a luxury that we have.”
Bodley said the group would continue to build week to week as they learn how to play with each other.
He said they were hoping to win their next couple of matches against the Mildura Heat and the Chelsea Gulls before the Easter break.
“Pre-season we said that we wanted to be 4-1,” he said.
The Pacers men opened their account on Saturday night as well, beating the Warrandyte Venom, 88-86.
Angus Fischer top scored with 22 points for the Pacers.
