Alyssa Ashley Loyola 51
Luxol 67
(10-14, 8-20, 20-14, 13-19)

Luxol maintained their impressive start to the women’s basketball season by beating holders Loyola on Sunday and claiming the St James Hospital MBA Shield to add to the Super Cup and pre-season tourna-ment titles.

Mollie Williams, who domi-nated underneath the boards, and playmaker Sara Pace were the force behind this Luxol victory as Loyola struggled to conclude their attempts with Brieta Thomas having a rather quiet start.

Luxol led from the opening minutes and thanks to Williams’s baskets they started pulling away in the last five minutes before half-time – 34-18.

When coach Christof Stolp had to replace Williams to nurse a slight knock, and Pace, Thomas came more into the picture to cut Luxol’s lead from 43-22 to 48-38 with the last quarter still to be played.

Williams and Pace were back in court, however, and that helped Luxol regain their confidence.

Without too much struggle, Luxol opened a handsome 57-40 advantage which they admini-stered wisely until the buzzer to seal the MBA Shield, a timely boost ahead of the upcoming cup competition and league.

Loyola: P. Montanaro, L. Pace, J. Doughty 3, M. Gatt, D. Hollier 5, K. Tonna 5, A. Bonanno 8, J. Mangion 2, B. Thomas 25, S.J. Barbara 3, F. Camilleri, B. Sultana.

Luxol: S. Pace 9, M. Sciortino 7, B. Naudi 6, C. Medina, J. Busuttil Gear-thy, G. Zarb 7, P. Ellul 1, M. Williams 29, D. Muscat 8, K. Portelli.

Refs: E. Mangani, A. Carbonaro.

Next fixtures
Louis Borg Cup, first legs, Saturday: 9.30 a.m. Qormi vs Luxol, 11.15 a.m. Depiro vs Starlites, 2.45 p.m. Hibernians vs Athleta.
Second legs, Sunday: 9.30 a.m. Luxol vs Qormi, 11.15 a.m. Starlites vs Depiro, 2.45 p.m. Athleta vs Hibernians.