Basketball: Falkirk Fury senior women defeated by St Mirren in tight clash

Falkirk Fury ace Sophie Cram on the ball; her side lost out to St Mirren over the weekend on SBC league duty in Paisley despite a spirited performance (Stock photo: Gary Smith)

A 16-11 opening start for Fury saw the Sony Centre sponsored outfit play some of their best basketball of the season at both ends of the floor.

The Falkirk side started with veteran guards Shannon Flippard and Ailie Gardiner along with Sophie Cram, Lucy Rafferty and Abby Rutter, and although they initially went 8-0 behind, that was soon put right by the visitors as they went on a great 16-3 run sparked with an opening basket from Gardiner halfway through the opening period.

Fury's Penman was on top form in that opening period, grabbing a whopping 12 points in a five-minute spell that not only forced a Saints timeout – but gave Fury a five-point opening quarter lead.

Abby Rutter with a long range three had also got on the scoresheet during that early 16-3 run.

The second period however saw the home side rally and go ahead with Fury staying in touch thanks to back-to-back baskets from former junior star Abby Reid coming off the bench and making a big impact.

With the half-time score at 31-23, Fury were still very much in the game.

The third stanza saw Saints continue where they left off taking the game to a 23-point difference at the end of the third. Key baskets from captain Flippard and Emily Dagger were part of the few bright spots in the third for Fury.

The visitors were far from out of the game as Dagger hit a long three in the opening seconds of the fourth period to immediately reduce the gap to 20 points.

With Fury now in a pressing defence it was the impressive Penman who again delivered with another four points to bring the game to 16 points.

Abby Reid also scored late on keeping the game at 16 points with six minutes to play.

The final few phases of play then saw Saints secure the win and for Fury it was simply another game where they can take a number of positives from the performance despite being on the wrong side of the result.

Fury ace Rachel Penman top scored with 17 points personal while Abby Rutter was on eight points. Duo Abby Reid and Emily Dagger shared 12 points.