Coming off a win in the first round of the Women's National Cup in October, Coventry Flames (1-2) were overpowered by a formidable Brent Bulls (3-1) team, which currently sits atop the WNBL 2 South League.

From tip, it was clear how physical the game was going to be, with both teams tallying 22 combined fouls in the first half of the game. Although being tied at 19 at the end of the first quarter, the Bulls took advantage of key Flames players forced to the bench in foul trouble and used a 28-13 second quarter to draw out a 15 point lead going into half time. The Flames women returned from the break and put together a strong third quarter, however, the Bulls found momentum in the final frame and outscored Coventry 34-12 to end the game with the score of 84-56.

In a manifestation of the physicality of the game, Flames leading scorer, Sara Benavente suffered a broken nose early in the fourth quarter after receiving an elbow to the face from a Bulls player and did not return to the game afterwards. Coventry Coach, Rob Eddon, believes that was the final straw for his team and gives Brent the credit for being able to shift momentum back their way and finish off the game strong. "It's definitely a lesson for our team. We played some incredible defense today but we picked up a lot of silly fouls 90 feet away from the basket that cost our strongest players some minutes," Eddon said. "Because of that, we had to send smaller players in to defend against the size of [Brent Bulls'] post players and they just took advantage of the mismatch."

Catarina Seixas scored 22 points and Benavente added 13 points in a continuation of the backcourt duo's strong offensive showing to start the season. Maria Miquel also scored in double figures, contributing 13 points for Coventry. The Bulls were led by Joey Maignomo (18 points) and Kenisha Whyte (14 points).

MVP: Catarina Seixas bags another MVP award for her performance against the Bulls. 

Up Next: Coventry will return to Cardiff, where they will face D-1 Cardiff Met Archers I in the R-16 of the Women's National Cup on Sunday 14th November, 2021.

Update: Due to player injury, Coventry Flames have dropped out of the Women's National Cup. The team will take the court next away against West Suffolk Wolves on November 20.