Story by REDintern Gerald Goh

Republic Polytechnic Competition Hall, Thursday, August 6, 2009 - Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) thoroughly dominated a Temasek Polytechnic (TP) team left crippled by the loss of captain Gwendalynn Koh to a horrific knee injury in their previous 66-44 victory over Singapore Polytechnic.

TP were also missing guard Tjhang Li Sian through illness, as NYP's superior strength and endurance left TP playing catch-up from the start.

The opening minutes were a mishmash of scrappy play as both sides struggled to find their rhythm, with NYP's Tan YaQi guilty of mishandling a pass from Yeo Sze Ying into touch. Team-mate Nur Hidayah's drive to the basket for a 6-1 lead was the last bit of scoring for over four minutes as passes went astray and shots were found wanting.

The game then bounced back into life via Sze Ying's steal from TP's Chua Yinghui to set up Michelle Teng for an easy-lay-up, with NYP moving into an 11-1 lead.

Sze Ying was again at the heart of another TP turnover, grabbing the ball from Lee Pei Jing. Her shot bounced off the rim, but Sze Ying ghosted in to take the loose ball and make amends, giving TP a 16-6 margin.

TP were unable to find any sort of passing momentum, as Koh Su Peng's long pass to Yinghui was way too high for the TP guard. Yinghui did much better with 4:40 left on the clock though, swinging out a pass for an unmarked Fion Tey to fire home a three-point shot.

Fion would later cherish the same spot beyond the center arc, firing home another three-pointer to cut TP's deficit to 27-16.

At the start of the third quarter, NYP's See Hui Qin buried a long shot from downtown to extend NYP's advantage to 35-18. Yinghui fumbled a dribble but managed to stumble her way to an unorthodox lay-up, her effort sending TP onto a rare period of dominance. Low Wunying put in some strong defensive work, rebounding an NYP effort and running past a posse of players all the way to the basket to make it 42-28.

NYP were hardly down and out, however, as Cecilia was left unguarded to sink in a three-pointer, before Sze Ying knocked the ball to Hidayah to flawlessly execute a 360-degree mid-air spin and lay-up to keep NYP at 47-34.

With both teams keeping pace with each other, Cecilia proved sharp to plunder a ball off Wunying for Goh Siew Ling to break, before forcing TP into another turnover barely a minute later. Fion subsequently brought down a cross-court pass from Wunying to shoot a composed three-pointer, but again Cecilia hammered home an emphatic reply to deny TP a chance to come close.

With the TP players losing pace and their ability to pressure, Hidayah managed a basket after missing her first two attempts, before YaQi sent in a long-range howitzer to rack up a 70-50 TP lead. With Yinghui and Fion needlessly tussling for the ball, TP lost possession in the final minute and the buzzer rang shortly thereafter to confirm NYP's emphatic win.

TP coach Colin Lai felt that his team were hard done by injuries. "We worked and played our best, but unfortunately it was not our day… The loss of of No. 7 (Gwendalynn Koh) was the main factor, our main controller was also sick." He pointed out that the team fought well in the third quarter with a 12-point streak, conceding that the stamina and strength of his players was found wanting at the end, although they had ´fought a good fight'.