7 January 2017: Crusaders 66-63 Wolves

Imani Whittington and Savannah Wilkinson did enough for Barking Abbey Crusaders to hold off a late surge from Oaklands Wolves.

WBBL Championship
Barking Abbey Crusaders 66 (15,32,52) (Whittington 19, Wilkinson 13, Johnson 11)
Oaklands Wolves 63 (9,19,31) (Fleming 20, Nelson 13, Fulop 10)

Barking Abbey Crusaders have made it four wins in five as they chase a top four spot in the WBBL Championship, holding off Oaklands Wolves 66-63 in an amazing finish against the league’s bottom-placed side.

Crusaders looked as though they were going to comfortably inflict a tenth straight defeat on the Wolves, jumping out to a 15-9 first quarter lead, which was 32-19 by the half as the league’s second best defensive came to the fore early on. Imani Whittington (13) and Abigail Johnson (12) combined for 25 (78%) of their team’s points up to the break.

And Crusaders carried more than a twenty-point lead into the decisive final ten minutes, at 52-31 by the end of the third.

But Wolves, seeking a first win of the season, were sensational in the fourth quarter. They opened with a 15-2 surge and poured in 32 points in ten minutes – with Ashton Fleming finishing on 20 points to lead all scorers – to get back to within one shot of their hosts late in the game.

Crusaders held on, Savannah Wilkinson scoring nine second half points, to maintain a gap of just two points behind Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters in fourth.