11 Feb 2017 (TRO): Pride 71-77 Northumbria (OT)

Alison Gorrell and Kara Bonenberger lead Team Northumbria through overtime to beat Caledonia Pride.

WBBL Trophy, North Group
Caledonia Pride 71 (9,32,51,65) (Thomson 23, Bastian 19, Oakes 12)
Team Northumbria 77 (13,23,49,65) (Gorrell 28, Bonnenberger 25, Fong Lyew Quee 13)
After Overtime

Team Northumbria broke Caledonia Pride hearts when they snatched a first win since October from them in overtime, coming away from the Oriam Arena with a 77-71 win in the WBBL Trophy.

The win snapped Northumbria’s own losing run of three straight games in the first ever WBBL meeting between its two northernmost sides.

It was a high quality game, with some outstanding individual performances. Northumbria were led by double-doubles of 28 points and 14 rebounds from Alison Gorrell, supported by 25 points and 10 boards from Kara Bonenberger – they combined for two-thirds of their team’s points, and half of their rebounds.

And despite Bonenberger scoring six early points to put the visitors up 13-7 after an 8-0 burst, they trailed for the majority of this game.

Pride responded at the outset of the second stanza, with a 13-0 surge split between Natalie Bastian (7) and Sarah Thomson (6) turning the game around and giving them a 22-17 lead, holding their visitors scoreless for nearly five minutes.

That lead peaked at nine soon after, before Northumbria set about cutting the deficit after the break, with a 12-4 push to get back to within one at 36-35, three-pointers from Gorrell and Jodie Tucker, and the game was tight for the remainder.

There were six lead changes towards the end of the third quarter and into the fourth, but Northumbria looked to have won it when, with four seconds left, Bonenberger made an ‘and-one’ play to put them two points up.

But Pride emerged with a play from a timeout, and Thomson levelled the game with a buzzer-beating lay-up – she finished with a double-double of her own of 23 points and 15 rebounds.

It was all Northumbria in the extra period, as they closed the game out with eight unanswered points, the first six of those for Bonenberger, and escaped with a good victory.