Big late scores from Beth Sarson see Oaklands Wolves past Caledonia Pride.

WBBL Championship

Oaklands Wolves 63-49 Caledonia Pride (11-13, 36-24, 41-37)

Oaklands Wolves are up to sixth in the WBBL Championship table after beating Caledonia Pride 63-49 to make it six wins in their last seven league games.

Improving their record to 8-10, Wolves also took the head-to-head over Pride after a seven point reverse in the previous meeting, and Pride remain winless in the league since the turn of the year.

Leading scorers – Roya Rustamzada 13, Beth Sarson 12, Lizzy Harrison / Anneke Schluter 9 (Wolves); Alix Henderson 13, Hannah Robb 8, Pollyanna Storie 7 (Pride)

Turning point – After leading by double-digits, Wolves scored just five points in the third quarter allowing the visitors back within four. But that was corrected immediately in the fourth period as Sarson hit back-to-back three-pointers, and 10 points in total, in what became a 12-3 opening to restore the advantage at 53-40, and the hosts never looked back.

Key stat – Defence won it for Oaklands as they allowed their visitors no more than 13 points in any quarter and held them to just two field goals in nine minutes to open the decisive fourth, with this becoming the third time this season that they have held an opponent to fewer than 50 points.

Game hero(es) – Wolves spread their scoring, led by 13 points from Rustamzada; but it was Sarson who came up big when it mattered as she scored 10 of her 12 points in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.