18 Feb 2017: Archers 73-71 Pride

Sarah Wagstaff and Judit Fritz lead Cardiff Met Archers as they take the head-to-head with Caledonia Pride.

WBBL Championship
Cardiff Met Archers 73 (21,41,59) (Wagstaff 23, Collins 16, Fritz 15)
Caledonia Pride 71 (19,41,61) (Bastian 19, Oakes 14, Mackie/Thomson 13)

Cardiff Met Archers have scored a crucial win in the WBBL Championship Play-off race, as the league’s eighth-placed side edged Caledonia Pride, in ninth, 73-71. It also gives them the head-to-head, after they beat their Scottish rivals in overtime earlier in the campaign.

Sarah Wagstaff led the Archers, with 23 points, as they snapped a run of three straight league defeats since that previous win over Pride; and she was supported by a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds from Judit Fritz.

Not surprisingly, the teams could barely be separated throughout, with seven being the biggest lead of the game. There were eight lead changes in the first quarter, as Fritz scored 10 of her points, and Archers edged in front when Wagstaff hit six early points in the second stanza, 27-21.

And, despite the visitors getting back in front after Sarah Thomson scored four in an 8-2 run, Archers still looked strong at the start of the third quarter when Wagstaff added another five straight points for 52-45. She scored 12 of her team’s points in a row, including three triples in a five minute spell.

But the game was destined to be tight down the stretch, and Pride snatched the lead back heading into the fourth quarter when Natalie Bastian scored five in a 9-0 burst and her buzzer-beating three made the score 61-59.

There were four early lead changes in the decisive period, before Fritz tied the game at 67 with a three-pointer. Wagstaff put Archers up for good inside the final three minutes, and they had a cushion at 73-69 when Stef Collins added to that.

Pride had a chance to tie the game on the buzzer, but Bastian couldn’t score under significant pressure.