WBBL Championship
Oaklands Wolves 69-83 Leicester Riders (18-21, 32-37, 50-56)

Leicester Riders have got their WBBL Championship campaign up-and-running with an 83-69 defeat of Oaklands Wolves on the road.

It’s Leicester’s first win of the season, condemning Oaklands to a fourth straight defeat, while Riders now hold five consecutive league wins over this opposition.

Leading scorers – Schluter 25, Rustamzada 14, Harrison 13 (Wolves); Winterburn 27, Elmore 16, Hayward 14 (Riders)

Turning point – Leicester led narrowly throughout much of the game, and took it when a 9-2 run over the third quarter break made their lead double-digits, Holly Winterburn opening the fourth period with a three-pointer to help the score to 61-50. There was no way back, as Riders kept the scoreboard ticking over late on.

Key stat – Riders were dominant on the inside, as they scored just four three-pointers in the game but made 22 trips to the free-throw line, scoring 17 of those for a 77% success rate.

Game hero – Holly Winterburn led the scoring for the victors with 27 points, and that included key scores late on as she hit 12 of those in the decisive fourth quarter.