9 Apr 2017: Wolves 53-84 Riders

Double-doubles for Erika Livermore and Alex Smith lead Leicester Riders to a comprehensive win.

WBBL Championship
Oaklands Wolves 53 (11,26,39) (Nelson 13, Harrison 11, Fleming 10)
Leicester Riders 84 (26,43,65) (Livermore 17, Smith 14, Thompson/Winterburn 10)

Leicester Riders have taken a share of second spot in the WBBL Championship table after beating Oaklands Wolves 84-53. They join Manchester Mystics and Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters in pursuit of East Midlands rivals Nottingham Wildcats; but Riders are the only of those sides that cannot still win the title, as they are two wins behind Wildcats, with two games to play, and have lost the crucial head-to-head against their rivals.

It was the fourth time the teams had met in all competitions this season, and Riders were led to a fourth win over Wolves by Erika Livermore’s double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, as she shot 88% for the game. The team shot 68% on the inside, with Alex Smith adding a double-double of her own, of 14 points and 11 assists.

Riders secured their fourth win in the last five games very early in this one, racing into a 12-2 lead as Dee Hayward scored five and Harriet Swindells capped the run with a three-pointer. And the lead remained double-figures throughout, as they scored the last eight of the first period, Smith connecting from long-range, to lead 26-11.

Riders’ stifling defence forced the hosts into a massive 29 turnovers in the game, from which Leicester scored 21 points, with Livermore and Hayward capitalising in such fashion to open the second stanza. And the lead was through 20 soon after as consecutive Holly Winterburn scores made it 34-13.

And there was no way back from there for the hosts, with the lead reaching 63-36 in the third period after a run of 14 unanswered points was ended with consecutive Mollie Campbell scores. The lead peaked at 84-51 when Smith added two fourth quarter three-pointers.