Friday Fever

As we look forward to a re-ignition of the WBBL after the festive break, it’s an extra exciting time for Great Britain’s Kyla Nelson.

Not only is she looking forward to the resumption of her role in trying to get Oaklands Wolves a historic first ever WBBL Championship success, she is also now ready to make the move Stateside later this year after committing to Pitt.

For now though, Nelson is focusing on tomorrow’s South-East derby meeting with Barking Abbey Crusaders.

“I think we match well with Barking,” she said.

“They are quite young (similar to us) and have some very skilled individuals. It is all about not making it easy for their scorers to do what they do best. Defence will decide the end score and I believe that’s the biggest factor for both teams.

“The last time we matched up with them was a great test of where we were at that point in the season. We’ve shown we can compete with teams. I think we had a 10-point lead at the half which may have been surprising for some.

“However, we went away from things that identify us as ‘Oaklands Wolves’ and Barking punished us for it. They hit some great shots and had an overall better second half than us.

“I think the last game will have a big impact on this weekend,” continued Nelson.

“Barking will come out hard and will make it much tougher for us to get a lead, as they are smart and would have adjusted from last game. We are also aware of our mistakes from last time and are looking to improve from the previous score line.”

It’s been a fascinating developmental journey so far – both for Wolves and Nelson herself, who had previous WBBL experience from her time with Brixton Topcats.

“Individually, this is probably the best shape I’ve ever been in,” she stated.

“I am feeling great and am very excited for every game. I understand that the team need me to do specific things for us to be successful and I am trying to do that role as well as possible.

“I believe I am having a good season to date, but there is always ways to improve game by game. My team-mates give me the opportunity to have the types of performances I’ve had so far and I’m just excited to see us grow.”

She added, “For the first part of the season, it was all about development and getting better as a team. That is still an emphasis for us, but now, we believe we can put ourselves in a position to win games by competing for longer periods of times.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what is still to come for us!”

Elsewhere on a ‘Super Saturday’, Caledonia Pride will try to cause an upset at home to Nottingham Wildcats as they continue their search for an elusive first ever win. Cardiff Met Archers will also look to cement a surprise when they entertain Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters.

Meanwhile Sevenoaks Suns head to the in-form Manchester Mystics with an addition to their roster in the shape of Renee Busch and last but not least, Leicester Riders welcoming Team Northumbria in what could be one of the tightest and hardest games to call of the day!