Milwaukee, WI

By Shelly Shankya

The last game of the day saw Philly Roller Girls’ Liberty Belles face off against the Windy City Rollers in a packed US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There was an early exchange of small points on the track, but power jams started to make a difference as early as the fourth jam when Philly’s jammer V-Diva scored 22 points. There was a consistent back-and-forth of power jams throughout the first, and Philly scored 69 points off of the power jams in the first, while Windy City scored 79.

“We knew we had to play our game,” Jackie Daniels said. “We knew we could win this game, we just had to settle in to it, and I’d say that happened for us around the 25 minute mark.”

Despite the Liberty Belles having the majority of pack advantage plays, Windy City blockers Bork Bork Bork and Konichi Wow managed to hold Philly jammers to keep the score within reach at all times. Philly had a few opportunities when the point spread made it to 33 points in the Belles’ favor, but Windy’s agile jammers and blocking skills from veterans like Jackie Daniels kept Windy in the game.

Photo by Kit Ruff

There were a few unusual jammer situations during the first, as both Devoida Mercy for Philly and Varla Vendetta for Windy City received illegal procedure penalties while still in the penalty box. Likewise, both teams used their official reviews during the half to contest calls not made. In both cases, the non-call stood.

Philly held onto a slim lead, 99-95, with three minutes left in the half, but after a cut track major to V-Diva and three lead jammer calls to Windy City, the women from Chicago put up enough points to end the half ahead 99-115.

During the second half, the Philly Liberty Belles clawed their way back to within four points, 114-118, but a jammer do-si-do in the third jam of the second resulted in closing the gap for the Liberty Belles. Jammers Francey Pants and V-Diva exchanged more than one point struggle during the half, Francey scoring 23 on one jammer change-out, and then 20 points on a power jam when V-Diva went to the box for a clockwise block penalty. The jammer do-si-do-s didn’t end with V-Diva and Francey; in fact, Varla Vendetta for Windy and Antidote for Philly swapped spots in the box as well. In the end, the back-and-forth of jammer box trouble resulted in a one-point differential, Philly ahead by one point, 169-170.

“I can’t remember a game when I didn’t do both jamming and blocking,” Jackie Daniels said. “Philly plays a fast-hitting, chaotic game, and it’s a fun game to play. But we had to focus and reset to keep our heads in it. We had to boost our confidence and remain calm.”

Steve Jurkovic Photography

The energy in the arena reached a frenetic climax as the lead changes had the crowd on their feet with each lead jammer call. And the overwhelming energy continued throughout the last seven minutes of the bout. Windy City’s veteran Jackie Daniels had the crowd chanting her name for each time she took the line as jammer, especially in the last jam of the game.

Windy City used the momentum shift they gained in the final minutes of the game to grab the win from Philly Roller Girls, ending the game ahead at 221-174.

“We played BAD earlier this year, and we had a 60-point win, but if BAD skates clean and we skate clean, we know it can be anybody’s game,” Jackie Daniels said.

Final Score

Philly Roller Girls (Richmond #2) 174
Windy City Rollers (Asheville #3) 221

Windy advances to play B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls at 4 pm CST on Saturday.