photo by Gil Leora

UPDATED! 

The Hell’s Belles were doubled up by the Manic Attackers two weeks ago, but many thought the ladies in red played their best game of the year and continued to improve. Optimists might have given them a shot to sneak up on a hang-dog Double Crossers squad that was undressed by the Fury at the last bout. Life will not always cooperate with a good story, however; the Crossers played lights out Saturday night at the UIC Pavilion, and the Belles spent much of the game in the dark, going down 158-75.

Nina Millimeter (61) and Julia Rosenwinkel (56) led all scorers, the former registering almost 7 points per jam. The Belles, on the other hand, failed to score points in 21 of 40 jams. The Belles did jump out to an 8-0 lead on opening jams by Shocka Conduit and Deb Autry. But when Pominatrix was sent off on a cutting the track major early in the bout’s third jam, the Crossers dropped into their slow-down game and the adept Millimeter wove her way to fifteen points. Autry exploited a broken pack in the eighth jam for four, and Belle captain Conduit, assisted by strong blocking from Mya SSault, registered a grand slam in the tenth to cut the Crossers’ lead to eleven. 

With thirteen minutes gone in the first half, however, the Belles slid quickly into penalty trouble. When Loco Chanel tripped Millimeter in the tenth, the Belles box was already full. Two Belle rookies took themselves out on Millimeter’s last scoring pass, and the jam ended with a 48-22 Crossers lead. The Belles would total 42 team minutes by the end of the bout; their two most experienced blockers, Mya Ssault and Bloody Elle combined for 32 minors and six majors, and Crosser jammers put up 37 ghost points on the night.

The final two jams of the half generated some excitement. Autry took lead jam on the twentieth and scored two quick points before Rosenwinkel got tangled up with a Belle on the inside line in front of the scorer’s table and went down hard just inside the middle of the track. Officials called play to a stop, and when Rosenwinkel eventually rolled to her bench, she had been called for an elbow in the fracas. This left Conduit with a powerjam to start the half’s final jam, in which she scored 8 of her 47 total points. Conduit’s season-high point total was all the more remarkable given the Belle’s penalty handicap; she had just two minors herself while playing her best game of the year, outmaneuvering Crosser blocking on multiple occasions with speed and agility. 

The Crossers came out for the second half on cruise control, holding the Belles to 6 points in their first 9 jams before Conduit put up ten in the tenth. That was the only double-digit jam of the half for the Belles, however, who were missing injured co-captain Hermione Danger. They did get inspired play from Autry as well, the leading Belle scorer coming into the game. Autry took lead on 7 of her 12 jams, but rarely had a full complement of blockers for an entire jam; she made many of her twenty-six points with nifty changes in direction, surrounded by black shirts. Veteran Crosser blockers Donna Party, Norma Lee Wright, and Georgia on Yer Behind had their way most of the game with a lopsided pack. And despite her 61 points, Millimeter played more jams at Pivot, recording 13 defensive actions on her way to Player of the Game. The veteran gave her post-game interview one tooth short of a full smile, thanks to a mishap during warm-ups.

Mostly quiet in the second half, the crowd was revved up by Crosser rookie Joanie Utah, who picked up 12 total points in five jams while looking smooth and solid. Tay Q. Down, playing in her first WCR game, showed defensive promise for the Belles.

The Double Crossers, tied with the Fury at the top of the standings at 3-1, now look forward to knocking the defending champion Manic Attackers out of contention at the next bout on May 1st. There is no rest on the horizon for Hell’s Belles, who catch the Fury on a three-game winning streak.