Pride get belated landmark success on the board

WBBL Championship
Oaklands Wolves 55 (17,29,47) (Fulop 19, Fleming 11, Harrison 7)
Caledonia Pride 65 (21,39,48) (Bastian/Mackie 15, Oakes 14)

Caledonia Pride made history with a long-awaited maiden triumph in the WBBL after beating Oaklands Wolves 55-65 away from home.

Beth Mackie scored 15 points off the bench, while Natalie Bastian – 15 points, 12 rebounds – and Tricia Oakes – 14 points, 12 rebounds – both posted double-doubles to help Pride to victory.

Sarah Thomson connected with back-to-back triples in the first as Caledonia took an early lead and opened up a 17-21 advantage after 10 minutes.

Two more 3-pointers from Thomson followed at the start of the second in a 10-2 start as Pride moved up by 12 points. The double-digit gap remained in tact heading into half-time before the home side mounted their fightback.

Oaklands went on a 13-3 run to level the game at 42 before taking the lead shortly after on a three from Krisztina Nagy.

However, Caledonia were not to be denied and responded with a 14-2 burst across quarters to restore their 10-point lead and went on to secure a memorable victory.

Kata Fulop led the Wolves with 19 points as they now have a 0-11 record, still waiting to follow up their lone WBBL Cup victory earlier in the season.