Palatinates and Wildcats win nail-biters, Lions…
WBBL Championship
Durham Palatinates 69 – 67 Caledonia Gladiators (23-16, 30-31, 56-51)
(Palatinates: Ottewill-Soulsby, 28; Wayne, 13; Bautista/Hendershot, 8 – Gladiators: Wolf, 20; McGarrachan, 18; Elias, 10)
Cardiff Met Archers 69 – 75 Nottingham Wildcats (19-16, 40-42, 52-58)
(Archers: Hatch, 21; Yunker, 13; Saiki, 10 – Wildcats: Shaw, 22; Stewart, 17; Whittington, 11)
Leicester Riders 84 – 64 Sheffield Hatters (28-13, 58-27, 72-48)
(Riders: Arlen, 22; Robb, 19; Brown/O’Dwyer, 8 – Hatters: Murphy, 22; Gayle, 16; Shaw, 9)
Newcastle Eagles 43 – 123 London Lions (6-38, 19-69, 33-95)
(Eagles: Nolan, 18; Lewis, 16; Justinak, 5 – Lions: Beckford-Norton, 25; Winterburn, 19; Herbert Harrigan/Vorpahi, 13)
Durham Palatinates recorded their second win of the season with an impressive 69-67 victory over an in-form Caledonia Gladiators squad.
Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby dominated inside for the Palatinates, recording 28 points and six rebounds, while also going perfect from three-point range (3/3).
Teammate
Elle Hendershot was active on all areas of the court, pulling down 10 rebounds,
while adding six assists, and four steals on Durham’s way to upset Caledonia.
The
early stages of the game witnessed a great battle between Ottewill-Soulsby and
Gladiators’ impressive Abbie Wolf. Wolf started the better inside, forcing
Ottewill-Soulsby to operate from outside the key to get her points on the
board.
Durham,
however, were shooting confidently from beyond the arc, nailing four on their
way to taking the opening quarter 23-16.
Caledonia’s
fortunes changed in the second period, with four quick points courtesy of
Chantelle Handy and Zoe Sharpe putting the visitors within three points of
taking the lead.
Gladiators
continued to run riot, disrupting the Durham attack with Tea Adams
pickpocketing the ball and converting gracefully at the rim.
Jessica
Wayne, who drained two triples in the first quarter, expanded her shooting
clinic to the interior, getting important layups to fall, protecting Durham’s
advantage.
Heading
into the halftime break, Durham led by a slim two points.
Wolf
continued to operate well inside for the Gladiators, drawing fouls on a handful
of great post moves.
For
Durham, they continued to make use of their shooting talent as Inma Bautista
found herself wide-open to notch back-to-back three pointers to edge out
slightly.
A surge
in Caledonia’s offensive hustle culminated in Handy providing the trailing side
their first triple of the game as they looked to hit back.
But an
11-0 run propelled Durham into a double-digit lead for the first time in the
game.
Caledonia
responded valiantly, with Erin McGarrachan slashing to the basket continuously
to set up scoring opportunities – including a decisive baseline reverse layup
to suddenly bring the game back to within two points.
However,
a Wayne dagger three-pointer to beat the buzzer provided Durham a five-point
cushion heading into the final frame.
The
fourth quarter witnessed a great contest as both teams fought hard to secure
the lead.
McGarrachan
and Wolf continued to operate well inside the key, while Durham responded with
some shifty moves from Bautista to free up space for an elbow jump shot.
Two
vital buckets made by McGarrachan and Wolf down the stretch tied up the ball
game – with a crucial McGarrachan layup putting Caledonia ahead.
A
clinical pick and roll play from Durham saw Ottewill-Soulsby on the receiving
end to complete the play with a crisp layup.
On the
very next Durham possession, Ottewill-Soulsby put away a deep three-pointer to
take back the lead for the Palatinates.
With
under a minute to go, Handy hit a triple to keep the contest neck and neck.
But,
Ottewill-Soulsby struck again, knocking down a well-worked layup from the low
block to give Durham the lead once again.
With
some lockdown defence from Durham and a vital pass deflection by Orieoma
Chukwu-Etu, Durham were able to see out the final seconds to secure a fantastic
win.
Durham
improve to 2-5 as they will look to climb the standings in the coming weeks.
For
Caledonia, they suffer only their second defeat of the season after winning
their past three contests.
In the second WBBL contest of the day, the Nottingham Wildcats came up with a solid 69-75 win on the road to Cardiff Met Archers.
One of three Wildcats players in double digit scoring, Mari Stewart went off for 17 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.
Kayla
Shaw was also critical to the Wildcats win, as she poured in 22 points, with
four triples – her third straight contest scoring 20 or more.
A
thrilling matchup, Cardiff Met started strong, as the home crowd rallied behind
floor general Lauren Saiki who set the tone, forcing Nottingham turnovers and
making plays on the attacking front.
Montana
State commit Isobel Bunyan anchored down the Cardiff Met defence, drawing two
early blocks on her way to six rejections cumulatively.
Not
just an alert and astute defender, Bunyan provided back-to-back buckets to push
the Archers out ahead in the opening minutes.
Finding
their feet, with a great pass and cut play by Brahe Ashton and Stewart got the
Wildcats on the scoresheet.
Picking
up momentum quickly, the visiting Wildcats began a 9-2 run to get the game on
level terms with Imani Whittington and Jahnae Gyles doing a great job of
converting defence to offence.
Concluding
the first quarter, despite lockdown Cardiff Met defence, Stewart successfully
got a hook shot to drop to beat the buzzer.
Though
trailing, Nottingham came into the second quarter fired up.
Archers
continued to make great plays to free up scorers, with Saiki finding Lara
Habling along the baseline who finished confidently at the basket for a layup.
Saiki
then danced her way past multiple Nottingham players finishing in dazzling
fashion at the basket.
But
with Shaw providing a quick spree of buckets, the Wildcats moved ahead 40-42,
heading into halftime.
Cardiff
Met opened the second with a quick jump shot from Shannon Hatch, before
Whittington immediately responded with an and-one layup.
Shaw’s
smooth jump shot followed for a well-executed three-pointer, which placed the
visitors in reach of a double figure lead.
Opening
the fourth quarter scoring, an Ashton three-pointer spurred the Wildcats on to
a 10-point lead midway through.
Cardiff Met were successful in getting layups to drop but Shaw’s wonderful shooting range gave Nottingham a continuous edge as time expired.
With
the win, Nottingham improved to three wins on the season.
For Cardiff Met, they suffered their sixth defeat as both teams continue to joust for playoff positions.
Leicester Riders delivered a big 84-64 win over Sheffield Hatters, as they edge closer to the top spot in the standings.
With an
exceptional all-round performance, Riders guard Hannah Robb topped the
victorious side with 19 points and 10 rebounds marking her first double-double
of the season.
Sharpshooter Ashley Arlen also provided 22 points, making it her fourth game of the season finishing with at least 20 points.
Despite
a heavy victory for the hosts, Hatters forward Karly Murphy battled endlessly
inside and was a force on the defensive boards, chalking up 22 points and 16
rebounds without conceding a turnover.
Leicester’s
performance derived principally from the opening quarter, as the hosts went
7-from-8 from three-point land in the opening quarter.
With
Arlen, Robb, and Oliana Squires all getting it to fall from way out, the Riders
got off to a 12-0 start.
Hatters
worked hard to get back into the game, despite the excellent shooting of
Leicester, starting with a three-point shot of her own for Murphy.
Soon
afterwards, Georgina Gayle bounded down the middle of the court, getting a
precise floater to fall.
Murphy
then got another triple to go, after a convincing jab step had her defender
lost and unbalanced.
Riders
remained undeterred, however, with Mckenzie Johnston and Jessica
Eadsforth-Yates bonding well in the halfcourt to provide each other with
back-to-back scores.
With
five different Riders players hitting threes in the first quarter, it was to be
an uphill battle for the Hatters to forge a comeback.
Arlen
was exemplary to start the second quarter as she tallied Leicester’s first nine
points.
Topping
off a great scoring spree for Leicester, Robb managed to draw contact while
converting a tough three-point shot, completing a four-point play as the Riders
boasted a fierce first half performance.
A 6-0
run early on in the third quarter marked a stronger stint by the Hatters as
Murphy continued to operate well inside.
Hatters
controlled Riders prolific three-point scoring, forcing Leicester into
producing points from hotly-contested inside shots and layups.
Despite
a stronger second half with Hatters winning the third and fourth quarter in
points scored, Leicester’s crushing first half performance was enough to
outlast the Hatters comeback efforts.
With
the win, Leicester Riders notch eight victories on the season as they jump
ahead of Hatters in the standings for second place.
London Lions produced an immense 43-123 victory on the road to Newcastle Eagles, marking their eighth straight win in the 2022-23 campaign as well as their biggest score in club history.
Lions
extended their undefeated record with seven players registering double figure
scoring.
Providing
an efficient 25 points from the bench, Shanice Beckford-Norton led all scorers.
Lions
got off to a hot start, scoring 16 points before Newcastle could log a field
goal.
As well
as effective scoring and great unselfish passing from London, stealthy guard
Taylor Murray caused havoc for the Eagles attempting to bring the ball up the
court.
Murray
harassed Newcastle’s ball handlers tremendously, forcing nine first quarter
turnovers and igniting the Lions attack.
Hitting
back at a formidable attacking side, Newcastle found early responses in
Antoinette Lewis, who fought with determination to split Lions’ wall of
forwards down low.
Eagles
also connected a series of laser passes to find Rachael Bland locked-and-loaded
for a deep corner two-point jumper.
Running
riot on the attack, however, London amassed 69 points heading into the halftime
break with an eye-popping 50-point advantage.
Lions’
enviable chemistry came to the forefront once again in the second half, as
almost all Lions players received touches of the ball before a score, with
finishes ranging from layups, to physical post moves to clutch shots from
outside.
The
London masterclass endured into the final quarter, as the Lions surpassed the
100-point mark with eight minutes in the game to spare.
Eagles forward Katie Nolan tested Lions inside defence well, logging six straight points for the trailing hosts. However, the game concluded in spectacular fashion for the Lions, with a staggering 80-point win.
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Via: WBBL
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