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Essex Rebels will take a perfect home record into the women’s Super League Basketball play-offs this weekend.<\/b><\/p>\n
The team achieved their highest placing of third since joining SLB in 2018-19, winning all nine matches at their University Of Essex base in the process.<\/p>\n
They made sure of a home quarter-final by beating Manchester 85-72 last weekend and will now face London Lions, having already beaten them twice during the regular season.<\/p>\n
“It’s an exciting time with play-offs ahead of us. Being able to play at home, have your home fans there to support you, really means a lot. Securing that spot and knowing we’ll play at home is a big advantage,” point guard Paige Meyer told BBC Essex’s Sports Extra.<\/p>\n
“Play-offs is like a new season for everyone, everyone’s going to come into it bringing their best game, knowing what’s on the line, so it’s definitely going to be a good test and challenge for us.”<\/p>\n
The Rebels have won their last four games, including an 86-66 home success against the Lions – the team that beat them in their first major final, in the Betty Codona Trophy, in 2024.<\/p>\n
“We’ve talked about the momentum we want going into play-offs, so securing wins these last few weekends helps us feel confident going into play-off time now,” said Meyer, who moved from her native US after joining the Rebels last September., external<\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n “Securing the third place was the highest seeding for the team since joining the SLB so to be a part of that has been really cool and being able to host the first play-off game is another huge milestone. <\/p>\n “It’s been a lot of fun to be a little part of the history that’s maybe being made here and it’s exciting to to see what kind of standards are set for the following years.”<\/p>\n The club have a thriving girls’ programme with 60 regular players from Under-12 level up to Under-18s.<\/p>\n And director Anjuli Symonds said: “It’s really important for us to grow the girls’ pathway, the same as the boys. <\/p>\n “We’ve got an inspirational group sitting at the top with the SLBW team who have also just made the play-offs – it’s so inspirational for our young girls to look up to them.”<\/p>\n Both SLB finals will take place at London’s O2 Arena on 17 May and the Rebels have set their sights on being part of the occasion.<\/p>\n Meyer added: “That’s a stage, a goal, that as a team we’d love to have – it would be an incredible achievement for the team and the club, but we’re definitely taking it day by day and game by game.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n