In their last game of the regular season the Goldminers had to work hard against the Tigers but a strong last quarter made sure the home crowd at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium would be pleased.

The game was anyone’s for the taking at half-time with Goldminers having a 42-32 lead.

Tigers outscored the hosts by two in the next period but a 23-16 last quarter in favour of Bathurst would see Goldminers would keep their distance.

Goldminers will go into their semi-final on an eight-game winning streak.

Experienced Goldminers members Teagan Burke and Rachel Murray led the way on the scoreboard with 28 and 20 points respectively.

Goldminers coach Jo Cafe said the Tigers’ great outside shooting put pressure on her side.

“We got leads throughout the game but they were shooting well. At one point one of their girls shot four three-pointers in a row, so that’s an easy 12 points right there,” she said.

“In the last quarter the game got as close as three points but we ended winning by 15 so the girls did a great job towards the end.”

Bathurst had their top two spot locked up regardless of the match’s result but Shoalhaven needed a win to ensure their place in the finals.

Cafe said it was a much tougher match than the previous encounter between the two teams, where Goldminers were 80-52 victors.

“They certainly had more on the line than us. They’re trying to maintain sixth place,” she said.

“They were a much more improved team than when we played them last time. In that first game they lacked match fitness but when we saw them at the central venue round we could see they'd improved.”

Next match for the second-placed Goldminers will be on August 13, where they will take on the winner of the 3^rd v 6^th qualifying match. 

Goldminers can still finish as minor premiers should the Hawkesbury Jets spring an upset on the Wagga Blaze this weekend – in which case Bathurst would play the winner of the 4^th v 5^th game instead.

Cafe said it will be challenge for her team to keep their match fitness up.

“The teams going into the finals still have two games to play, except for Wagga and us,” she said.

“We’ll probably organise games with the 18s boys and some of the local girls, because there’s a lot of talented local players who aren’t playing with us this year.

“We’re starting to put some good games together and that’s because the girls have been playing basketball consistently.”