Packed WBBL Championship day sees big results –…

WBBL Championship
Durham Palatinates 43-76 Cardiff Met Archers (5-16, 22-44, 34-65, 43-76)
(Palatinates: G.Hurtado Barbeiro – 12, K.Bennett – 10, I.Wood – 6; Archers: S.Hatch – 16, K.Kheing – 12, D.Molnar – 11)

WBBL Championship
Sevenoaks Suns 73-42 Newcastle Eagles (23-13, 41-22, 54-31, 73-42)
(Suns: C.Carr – 16, R.Busch – 16, J.Fritz – 15; Eagles: C.Gaynor – 12, M.McVicar – 11, A.Popovic – 6)

WBBL Championship
Manchester Met Mystics 85-64 Caledonia Pride (24-18, 44-34, 63-49, 85-64)
(Mystics: L.Thomas-Johnson – 26, E.Williams – 15, G.Jones – 11; Pride: M.Ranger – 20, S.Phillips – 15, E.Tweedie – 8)

WBBL Championship
Essex Rebels 72-82 London Lions (20-25, 32-47, 50-67, 72-82)
(Rebels: A.Munns – 26, L.Costa – 10, T.Freeman – 8; Lions: S. Beckford-Norton – 18, S.Umeh – 13, A.Stewart – 11)

WBBL Championship
Nottingham Wildcats 87-78 Oaklands Wolves (22-20, 35-33, 48-56, 73-73, 87-78)
(Wildcats: B.Pannel – 22, S.Edmonds – 21, K.Nicolas – 20; Wolves: G.Uprus – 22, M.Quick – 17, L.Harrison – 16)

The Archers faced a challenging task after a long 300 mile journey up to the North-East of England, where the Palatinates awaited them – but the home side were left shell-shocked as the visitors put on a dominant team performance which saw all ten members of their travelling roster get on the scoresheet.

A superb double-double display from Shannon Hatch played a significant part of the Archers’ success on the day, while Denisa Molnar was on triple-double watch for a while as she dropped 11 points as well as contributing nine rebounds and eight assists.

Goretti Hurtado Barbeito led the scoring for the Palatinates with 12, but only Katie Bennett could join her in double-figures from the home team as she added ten points.

Meanwhile in Surrey, the Suns also put on a show for their fans against the Eagles as Cat Carr once again showed her incredible talent all over the court, as she came just two assists away from getting another triple-double after dropping 16 points and 11 eleven rebounds.

Renee Busch was also a very effective route of offence for the home team, as she contributed 16-points also after starting on the bench, while Frankie Wurtz (12), Judit Fritz (15), and Julia Koppl (10) all also reached double-figures for points.

Chloe Gaynor (12) led the scoring for the Eagles, who also made a 300 mile journey, but Maddie McVicar (11) was the only other player for the visiting team to score ten or more points as Chris Bunten’s side struggled on offence.

One hour after tip-off in Surrey and Durham, the Mystics tipped off up against the Pride – who had a slightly shorter journey than the Eagles and the Archers, but still travelled around 225 miles from Edinburgh to Manchester, only for forward Lauren-Thomas Johnson to drop one of the performances of the day in the whole league as she dropped 26 points for the home team.

Maud Ranger was almost equally as impressive for the Pride, as she dropped 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to secure a double-double, while Sian Phillips added 15 points and contributed nine rebounds.

However, the Mystics also saw Erika Williams reach 15 points, while Rheanne Bailey and Georgia Jones added 11 each as the home team just had that extra little bit of quality to help them to the victory.

Down in Colchester, London Lions picked up a 10-point victory over Essex Rebels, with Sanice Beckford-Norton leading her side with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Azania Stewart also proved to be vital to Lions’ victory, racking up a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds to give London their third WBBL Championship victory.

And the final game of a packed WBBL Championship day saw an absolute classic go down in Nottingham, as Nottingham Wildcats managed to pick up a 87-78 overtime victory over Oaklands Wolves.

The game was tight throughout with Nottingham only carrying a two point lead after the first quarter and only extending it to a three point lead by the time the buzzer sounded for half-time. Oaklands came out guns blazing as the third period commenced, with Greeta Uprus knocking down six unanswered points, putting Oaklands in the lead.

The Wolves managed to hold onto the lead for the remainder of the period until Nottingham went on a 6-0 run themselves in the first five minutes of the final quarter. The teams would trade baskets, and with just 12 seconds remaining, Merissa Quick tied the game at 73-73 for Oaklands with a two-point jump shot.

After a Nottingham timeout, the home side suffered a turnover and with Oaklands on the offence, it looked like Oaklands were set to pull off a last second basket but Brooklyn Pannell, who led her team with 22 points, managed to block two basket attempts consecutively to force overtime.

Nottingham opened the overtime period with another 6-0 run and that was enough for them to hold onto until the final buzzer sounded.