Anglia Ruskin University rose to seventh in the National Basketball League Division One Women’s table following two statement victories last weekend.

Anglia Ruskin defeated the high flying Oxford Brookes University 62-49 at Kelsey Kerridge on Saturday night. The win was built on an incredible defensive performance especially in the first quarter as ARU held the visitors to just two points, whilst putting up 20 of their own.

Anglia Ruskin were led in scoring by Nadege Talva, whose ability to cut to the basket and cause problems in the paint built a platform for perimeter scorer Marianna Maddaloni to score multiple three pointers to put ARU up 32-16 at half time.

Oxford Brookes, who improved as the game went on, was led in scoring by 13 points from Julie Frick. ARU kept up the intensity and effectively ended the contest with a big third quarter performance outscoring their opponents 18-9.

There was a scary moment in the second half for ARU’s key player Katrin Hulme as she went down after attempting to take a charge. Hulme was elbowed in the chest and charged a foul for her troubles, but would return to the floor, much to the delight of the ARU crowd.

Head Coach Christina Baiocco was pleased to take the win but called for more team defence for Sunday’s game.

Anglia Ruskin completed a perfect weekend with a strong performance against relegation strugglers Barking Abbey London Lions II on Sunday, with a 68-51 win at the Stephen Perse Sports Hall.

Ruskin started with good defence once again, limiting the guests to just four points in the opening term, but were held to just 11 points themselves.

The hosts kicked into gear offensively in the second quarter putting up 18 points, followed by 20 and 19 in the final two periods.

ARU were led in scoring by Katrin Hulme, the league’s per game scoring leader, with 21 points. Hulme’s ability to drive into the lane, receive a pass no matter how many defenders on her and make a play at the basket makes her one of the most important players in the league.

Nadege Talva, one of the most efficient players in the league, had a 21 point weekend, with another ten points on Sunday against a scrappy Barking Abbey side who fought for everything all forty minutes. The visitors were led by their pacy point guard Dami Adeyinka who was devastating from three point land.

Hulme reflected on a tough weekend “It wasn’t pretty, it was nice to get two wins from the weekend.”

The winning weekend puts Ruskin well in the playoff hunt as with four games to play against the teams around them.

Anglia Ruskin head off to Barking Abbey for the return fixture against the Lions next weekend, hoping to further cement their place in the playoffs.