The Wrap

History was made on Sunday as Caledonia Pride ended their wait for a first-ever win in the WBBL.

The Scottish franchise came out on top in the battle of this season’s newcomers after recording a 55-65 success away at Oaklands Wolves.

Natalie Bastian and Tricia Oakes both put up double-doubles in the win with Beth Mackie netting a joint team-high of 15 points from the bench.

Caledonia had fell agonisingly short less than 24 hours after losing 73-71 at Cardiff Met Archers – with 23 points from Sarah Wagstaff helping the Welsh side to a third win.

And Mackie was understandably delighted Caledonia were able to finally get over the line yesterday.

“It feels amazing to get that first win,” she declared. “Especially after coming so close [on Saturday] and in a number of other games this season.

“It’s great to see the hard work paying off – the happiness and pride when the final buzzer went was unbelievable.

“With each game, we have been getting stronger and learning and growing as a team.

“We never allow ourselves to be down for too long and the positive mindset instilled in us by Bart (Sengers) is the reason we won and bounced back so quickly.”

 

Mackie added: “We will take a lot of confidence forward from this game.

“We have finally broken away from those close games we have struggled to close out in the past.

“The Play-Offs are definitely our goal as we feel we can challenge most teams in this league especially given some of our defensive performances.”

Meanwhile, at the top, Nottingham Wildcats strengthened their position as the league leaders as they defeated one of their main rivals, Manchester Mystics, 82-68.

Ashley Harris posted 25 points and 13 rebounds in the win as the Wildcats improved to 10-1 with a strong second half performance.

Second-placed Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters lost ground as they were beaten 93-83 on the road against Team Northumbria, despite a combined 53 points from Georgia Gayle and Helen Naylor.

The home side led by as many as 22 points in the opening half, but had to hold off a strong fightback from the Hatters with Alison Gorrell finishing with 26 points in her side’s 5th league victory.

It was a great double-winning weekend for Sevenoaks Suns as Len Busch’s side started by beating Cardiff Met Archers 81-47 in front of the BBC Sport cameras.

 

They followed with an impressive 71-79 triumph at Leicester Riders as Cat Carr netted 26 points to move into fourth with a 7-4 record.

However, the Riders bounced back and re-gained their place in the top four after edging out Barking Abbey Crusaders 66-70 away from home with Savannah Wilkinson scoring 32 points in the loss.