WBBL Championship
Caledonia Pride 55 – 69 Oaklands Wolves (21-17, 33-35, 45-51)
Oaklands Wolves scored their first ever WBBL Championship win on Saturday afternoon, beating Caledonia Pride 69-55 in Edinburgh led by inspired performances from Aliz Varga and Kellie Ring.
After a winless campaign last year, they are now 1-2 at the outset of this season and have propelled themselves from the bottom of the table into an early Play-off spot.
Leading Scorers: Peacock 12, Reynolds 10, Robb 7 (Pride); Varga 20, Ring 18, Sarson 11
Turning Point: Pride had a strong lead early on, until Ring scored four in an 11-2 run to close the first period, capped by Varga’s ‘and-one’ play, before that run stretched to 19-4 into the second stanza, for a 30-23 lead, as Wolves allowed their hosts just two scores in ten minutes. Wolves maintained a tight edge, just one ahead in the fourth, before scoring 10 in a row, sparked by three-pointers from Ring and Beth Sarson to make the lead 61-50.
Key Stat: In a strong defensive performance from Wolves, they held their hosts to just 4/17 (24%) shooting in that second quarter spell. Overall, Pride shot just 1/11 (9%) three-pointers, while the visitors sank five.
Game Hero: Aliz Varga led the scoring with 20 points, and 12 of those came in the key spell during the first two quarters, while she also scored two crucial baskets in the run that sealed the game in the fourth.