The Wrap

It was a dramatic weekend of action in the WBBL Championship with some huge results at both ends of the table.

Caledonia Pride produced a stunning late surge to overturn a 12-point deficit with four minutes remaining and defeat Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters 79-78 for their first home win.

Natalie Bastian led the way with 24 points including a pair of game-winning free throws, while Hannah Robb connected with two triples in the 10-0 close.

“Honestly, it was amazing,” Bastian declared. “It’s a feeling you can’t put into words.

“We’ve been working so hard with extra hours in the gym and the best coaching staff and it’s finally been paying off.

“We are all just so proud of one another that we came together and didn’t give up.

“It was a huge combined effort from everyone on both ends of the court to get it back to a one possession game.

“I’m very humbled that my coaches and team-mates trust and believe in me to make plays, especially in a clutch situation like that.

“I wasn’t really nervous, I’ve been in similar situations before and believed I could do it again.”

Pride’s second win keeps them in contention to make the Play-Offs and Bastian is confident her side can force their way into the top eight.

“We proved to ourselves that we can not only compete with anyone in this league, but that we can beat anybody too.

“Making the playoffs would be an amazing accomplishment for us and all of basketball in Scotland especially being a new team.

“I believe we can make it but it comes one game at a time. We will continue to put the extra work in and hard work always pays off.”

Cardiff Met Archers opened their new arena in style with a thrilling 58-55 triumph over Team Northumbria with Judit Fritz stepping up with the game-winning three to finish with 18 points.

Meanwhile, Leicester Riders put last week’s Trophy Final defeat behind them to record an important 66-63 success against Nottingham Wildcats to close the gap on the league leaders.

Ashley Harris put up 24 points and 17 rebounds for the visitors, but their fourth quarter rally was not enough as they suffer a second league loss of the campaign.

Also on Sunday, the Trophy winners were back in action and Cat Carr led the way with 32 points and eight assists as Sevenoaks Suns saw off Oaklands Wolves in a 93-77 victory.

Gabby Nikitinaite added 26 points and 12 rebounds with last week’s Final MVP, Anne Pedersen, weighing in with a further 18 points as the Suns’ trio combined for 76 points.

Manchester Mystics had to dig deep against Barking Abbey Crusaders and needed double overtime before prevailing 80-82 on the road.

Georgia Jones finished with 24 points to lead the Mystics having hit an incredible off-balance three to force the second extra period.