Alison Gorrell leads Team Northumbria through overtime as they win on the road.
WBBL Championship
BA London Lions 53 – 59 Team Northumbria (13-11, 27-17, 37-25, 48-48)
After overtime.
Team Northumbria produced an amazing fourth quarter fightback to get past BA London Lions 59-53 in overtime on the road, led by Alison Gorrell.
That made it four wins in a row in all competitions for Northumbria, and five straight against Lions dating back nearly two years, as they chase down the top four in the WBBL Championship table, while Lions remain winless.
Leading scorers – Ellmore 20, Cotton 10, Gaskin 10 (Lions); Gorrell 23, Bonenberger 11, Ward 11 (Northumbria)
Turning point – Team Northumbria had trailed for much of the game as they struggled to score, but burst out of the blocks in the fourth quarter as Gorrell scored nine in an 11-2 opening. A pair of Florence Ward three-pointers got them back to within one shot before Gorrell’s free-throws tied the game and forced the extra period. All of the momentum was with the visitors by that point, and they opened overtime with the first six points to secure the win.
Key stat – Northumbria struggled considerably with their offence, shooting just 22% from the field. But their ability to get to the line, and subsequent accuracy, kept them in the game as they made 28 trips to the charity stripe, shooting 82%.
Game hero – Alison Gorrell made the big scores late in the game, and she led her team with 23 points and nine rebounds. She epitomised the above, shooting just 3/13 from the field, but an amazing 15/16 from the free-throw line.