The Goldminers’ women’s State League division one side will welcome competition leaders Shoalhaven Tigers to Bathurst this Saturday night in a top-of-the-table meeting.

Tigers make the trip with bragging rights over the Goldminers after their narrow 60-57 win in April, but this time Bathurst bring in a stronger lineup on their home court.

Not only that, Goldminers come into the match off a confidence-boosting win over fellow front runner Wagga Wagga Blaze while the Tigers are out to bounce back from their first loss of the season.

“Ever since we lost to them in that first match we’ve been looking forward to the rematch. Hopefully we get a good week of training together and go out there playing our best,” Goldminers co-coach Paul Masters said.

“You don’t want to go out there trying to win in the first five minutes. You’ve got to be up for the fight, and in our match against Wagga we did that. While the girls struggled to hit their shots at first they managed to stick with them and get the win in that last quarter.”

Tigers currently boast the top two scorers in the competition, Kate Bellamy (197) and Kate Denyer (152), although the latter is currently injured.

Masters said the strength of the Tigers’ core group, which includes former Goldminer Olivia Patterson, makes it no surprise they currently sit on top of the table.

“There’s a good group there with Olivia and a few of the others. They’ve played very well and have a managed to win a lot of close games. The only exception was their one against Goulburn last week,” he said.

“Last time we played them we only went down with seven players. We have Haylee Lepaio away this weekend with uni commitments in Wagga, but this time everyone else will be available.

“Defensively we’ve got to shut them down. They’ve got the two leading point scorers at the moment. Kate Denyer will likely be out but Kate Bellamy is in and she’s a very experienced player. She’s a very similar player to Rachel Murray, and is very athletic.”

The win over the Blaze in last round’s grand final rematch was a highly encouraging display but the Goldminers, particularly in the second half.

That’s the basketball both Masters and co-coach Kieran Purvis want to see replicated for the home crowd.

“We scored on the break a fair bit and did a great job hitting outside shots,” Masters said.

“Last time against the Tigers was only our second game of the season and since then we’ve had a lot more time together since then.”

Saturday’s match starts from 5pm at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium.