Caffe MOAK Luxol pushed aside Hibernians as they beat the Paolites 86-65.
The first quarter between the two sides was a balanced affair and there were also some lead changes in these initial ten minutes of play.
After Caffe Moak Luxol’s initial hoop from captain Amanda Mercieca, Hibs enjoyed a momentary lead after back-to-back treys from their veteran duo Samantha Brincat and Ashleigh van Vliet and shortly afterwards buckets from their young duo Julia Dabic and Kristy Caruana kept them slightly ahead at 12-9.
Luxol’s reply was an 8-2 run set off by four points off their top player Mexican Gladiana Avila and followed by hoops from Anna Fenech Pace and Josephine Diaby.
Although the Paolites had long rangers from Carauna and Naomi Farrugia, Luxol still maintained the marginal lead for a 24-20 score at the end of the first rubber.
An early 8-0 run with Avila the protagonist, assisted by Mercieca, helped Luxol to open a double-digit lead and they then sustained the tempo to neutralise Hibs’ seven points from guard Iona Agius and even extend the lead a bit more to a halftime margin of 14 points, 46-32.