Miners’ women pushing for post season

SPORTING their First Nations uniforms as part of the Coles Express NBL1’s First Nations Round, the Ballarat Miners had mixed results last weekend.

Hosting Keilor Thunder at Selkirk Stadium, the women came away with a 10-point win, but the men dropped a 20-point decision.

Once again it was Jade Melbourne leading the way for the women registering 27 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in a full 40 minutes of game time.

She was keenly supported by fellow guard Isabella Brancatisano who had 25 points of her own, while Stephanie Gorman and Kristy Rinaldi turned in respectable 13-point efforts.

The 89-79 win keeps the Minors women in the hunt for the post season with five rounds and seven games to go, most of which are on home court.

Meanwhile things are faring less will for the men’s side, who went down 68-88.

JD Miller and Preston Bungei were the standouts in the loss, with 16 and 12 points respectively.

The men currently sit in 10th on the table with an eight and seven record and the same number of games down the stretch to come as the women’s squad.

Both sides took the court last Saturday in uniforms designed by Wadawurrung man Billy-Jay O’Toole.

“Being able to share the story of caring for water and County, through the Ballarat Miners uniforms design is extremely exciting,” he said before the game.

“As a proud Wadawurrung man it is a privilege to work on country every day, connecting back to our ancestors and gaining knowledge and stories of my traditional lands so to see my design out on the court as part of NAIDOC week with the Ballarat Miners is something I am very proud of.”