Georgia Ohrdorf leads Newcastle Eagles to a crucial win over Leicester Riders.
WBBL Championship
Newcastle Eagles 96-87 Leicester Riders (26-22, 42-44, 70-69)
Newcastle Eagles scored a huge win in the WBBL Championship Play-offs race as they beat Leicester Riders 96-87, for a first win in three games.
Eagles improve to a record of 8-11 and jump above local rivals Durham Palatinates into seventh place, handing Riders a first road defeat in the league since the opening night of the season.
Leading scorers – Georgia Ohrdorf 31, Keziah Lewis 21, Steph Gandy 13 (Eagles); Brea Elmore 26, Rebecca Navarro 16, Dee Hayward 14 (Riders)
Turning point – Trailing in the first half, Newcastle posted 13 unanswered points over the half time break to lead early in the third quarter on a Lewis three-pointer. But the teams were hardly separated by more than five points all game and there were four lead changes and two ties early in the fourth until, heading into the final five minutes, an Ohrdorf ‘and one’ sparked a run of seven straight points, including consecutive scores from Lewis, to make the score 82-77, and there was no way back for the visitors.
Key stat – In a great offensive display from both teams, the differences were the 23 trips Eagles made to the free-throw line, making 20 of those, and the 17 second chance points that they scored after 13 offensive rebounds.
Game hero – Ohrdorf was the hero, with a huge double-double of 31 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 10-15 from the field and a perfect 11-11 from the free-throw line.