Tees Valley Mohawks Pink vs Newcastle East Griffins: Durham County Basketball Womens Cup Final preview

Tees Valley Mohawks Pink and Newcastle East Griffins face off in the Durham County Basketball Women’s Cup Final at Sunderland CitySpace this Saturday, with tip-off at 1:00

pm.

The Teams

The Mohawks have been a dominant force in the Durham league over recent years, winning the Cup for the last four years in a row and the league for the last three. This season, they have competed across two divisions, playing in both the Durham league and NBL Division 2. They finished 1st in the Durham league and 4th in NBL Division 2; they also reached the NBL playoffs, where they were defeated 70–40 by Barking Abbey at the quarter-final stage. On Saturday, they have the opportunity to secure the "double" with a win.

Newcastle East Griffins compete exclusively in the Durham league and finished the season in 3rd place. The Griffins will be looking to win the Cup for the first time and pick up their first piece of silverware since winning the Durham league in 2022.

Road to the Final

• Mohawks: Progressed past Golden Smog Warriors via forfeit in the quarter-finals and eliminated Northumbria Ladies with an emphatic 75–29 win in the semi-finals.

• Griffins: Beat Tees Valley Mohawks Red 51–44 in the quarter-finals before eliminating

• the Stockton Basketball Suns, who finished 2nd in the regular season.

  
  

Key Players

For the Tees Valley Mohawks, Bree Butler will be the key player. The guard averaged an impressive 27.6 PPG during the regular season and scored 26 points in the previous round. Butler is a complete scorer, capable of hurting teams from both inside and outside the perimeter. She also brings significant experience, having won the Cup with the Mohawks on three previous occasions.

The Griffins will look to Corinne Vaughan to help them break the Mohawks' streak. Primarily utilised at the Forward and Centre spots, Vaughan’s style is to get as many shots as possible close to the basket, using her height and wingspan to finish over defenders. She was a steady and dependable scorer throughout the regular season, averaging 11.6 PPG.

In the last round, Vaughan had a fantastic game, scoring 21 points and even sinking three 3-pointers. This was an unusual performance for her, as she typically does not attempt many shots from distance; in 7 out of her 9 regular-season games, she recorded no made threes. Griffins fans will hope Vaughan’s hot streak from behind the arc continues into the final.