Shalonda Winton and her team T71 Dudelange will play in the women’s league finals on Wednesday. The 29-year-old forward is averaging nearly 18 points per game for her team, the same amount as her team-mate Pele Gianotti in an overall very balanced T71 team.
Against Résidence Walfer, T71 has the home-court-advantage and is the slight favorite. Winton knows that some things will be very important against Walferdange, especially the defensive effort by her team: „I believe that our main defensive goal as a team is to remain solid. When we play together as a unit we hold ourselves accountable to the defensive assignments. Coach Jérôme and assistant coach Julie do an exceptional job of including us into discussing/planning out defensive schemes. I believe we are at our best when we communicate and buy into what our coaches tell us.”
The finals game 1 in Dudelange will be the first women’s game in 2021 with fans in attendance! This should push the women to play even better: „Having supporters at the game will be great! I think this season has been a little different especially without them. T71 has terrific fans and I’m glad that they can be there in the finals.“
Winton is currently in her 7th season in Luxembourg. After starting at the Musel Pikes in 2013/14, she joined T71 in the 2018/19 season. „I’ve played in Luxembourg for some time now 😅 and I think it’s a beautiful place to play. The country itself has great people, pretty views and also some good food. Women’s basketball has grown so much over the years and it’s nice to see the progression. This is my 3rd season with T71 and I have been very happy. I think the club has a very strong fan base which is important. The club really pushes women’s basketball in the forefront and I think it’s great. Very professional but the staff and committee members also do such a great job of making things happen behind the scene. My favorite thing about my team is that we play for each other. I believe we have a lot of talented individuals on our team but what is most impressive is the maturity and how selfless we can be as a team. We work hard and play to our strengths, I think this is what brings success to our team. »
T71 needs 2 more wins in order to celebrate the championship title, but their opponent Résidence will certainly be a very tough one.
Résidence’s Sofie Olsen will play in the USA after the finals –> No der Dammenfinall geet et fir d’Sofie Olsen vun der Résidence Walfer an d’USA
Picture: Robert Strauss
