Ipswich convincingly dismissed the Super League Women giants, and FIBA EuroCup Women champions London Lions 104-80 in the Betty Codona Trophy, led by 31 points from Harriet Welham.
It was a fantastic team display from the Women's National Cup and regular season winners as they opened their campaign in the most breath-taking of ways.
"For us, as a club, it was an enormous opportunity to showcase that we can operate on a professional level, which is something we take great pride in, week in and week out, with all of our clubs," Drane said.
"We also wanted to represent the WNBL, which we also take great pride in.
"We were able to show how Ipswich is able to punch above its weight in terms of how small our town is. Ipswich only has a population of roughly 150,000 people, and we compete with the best programmes in the country.
"So, being in a position to play the London Lions was big for us. Obviously, pulling off a win was extraordinary, and we're very proud of it."
They then followed that with an 85-50 win over Barking Abbey to start their WNBL1 season. Welham starred again with 30 points, three assists, and six rebounds, but she was helped by FocusHoops Player of the Week Louisa Gibbins, who pulled a solid double-double of 21 points and 16 rebounds.
However, despite the 25-point success, Drane admits it was far from comfortable, as he commended a Barking Abbey side that he feels will hurt teams this season and become a real danger.
"Barking have done a fantastic job, and Lauren [Milligan], and they have a talented roster; they were incredibly tenacious," Drane said.
"The score line honestly doesn't reflect how Barking Abbey play. They will be a super competitive team in Division 1, but we were delighted that we got the win.
"When it comes to the Super League and the Trophy, we want to compete, and what will be will be, we have a game next week against Essex, and once we get that out of the way, we can fully concentrate on defending our league title."
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Words by John Hobbs
Main image credit - David Devonport Photography
