While the
have announced they
, the team still has some unfinished business: a chance to win Saturday’s WBCBL regional at Flint Northern and advance to the national tournament in Tampa Bay.
Flint opens play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday against Detroit, a team the
. Detroit beat Flint in their previous meeting, 102-89 in May.
“We were able to get a chance to see them (Detroit) late in the season,” Flames coach Dreyon Wynn said. “It gave us a chance to see what we need to work on.”
One thing the Flames were able to do well against Detroit was limit the effectiveness of Detroit’s top scorer, Joei Clyburn. Clyburn is a tall wing player, and Flint’s perimeter players are all shorter. Wynn rotated
and
, both post players who are athletic enough to step out and guard on the perimeter, onto Clyburn in the second half of their game July 31 and they were able to hold her scoreless.
“I like to play physical,” Riley said. “We just need to just play our game. We had some sloppy moments and turnovers and finishing layups (in the last game against Detroit). We just need to focus on fixing those things.”
While the Flames’ guard play — led by
,
and
— has been strong all season, the mid-season additions of Riley and
added a new dimension to the team.
Riley, who played at Ohio State, is an athletic hustle player who has been a force on the offensive glass. Aitch, who played at Michigan State, has provided strength and toughness inside.
Along with
, the team’s leading scorer, the frontcourt has become a weapon and added more balance for the Flames.
“Our guards are definitely go-to,” Riley said. “They know how to slash, they can hit pull-up jumpers, they have the all-around game. Us being able to get the ball and make plays in the post opens things up for them.”
The winner of the first game Saturday will play No. 1 seed Columbus, who has a bye, in the regional final. Columbus is 13-2 this season, with both of those losses coming against the Flames. Columbus has also beaten Flint twice.
The Hidden Gems are led by their guard play as well — Jeannie Saunders and Brandie Hoskins are both big-time scorers with WNBA experience. Hoskins is averaging 23 points per game and Saunders is averaging 13 a game for Columbus.
“Columbus is the No. 1 team out of 54 teams in this league,” Wynn said. “We have to get it together (if we are going to beat them).”