Hatters hand another defeat to the league leaders with comeback effort.

WBBL Championship
Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters 67 (14,26,54) (Naylor 14, Gayle 13, Gandy 12)
Nottingham Wildcats 62 (15,35,51) (Harris 23, Prior/Ferreira 12)

Westfield Health Sheffield overturned a double-digit deficit on their way to beating the league leaders, Nottingham Wildcats, 67-62.

The home side struggled in the first half, but poured in 28 points in the third and went on to secure the victory to further open up the title race.

Georgia Gayle went 10-of-10 from the foul line in her 13 points with Helen Naylor top scoring with 14 points, while Brittany Winborne had 15 rebounds to go with 11 points.

Siobhan Prior got the Wildcats off to a good start by opening their scoring with a three and the visitors edged a tight first quarter by a single point.

A 12-2 start to the second saw Ashley Harris score 10 points with her side moving into a 22-35 advantage before the half.

Steph Gandy finished with back-to-back scores with her side down nine at the break, but they came out firing with a 10-4 start to the third and moved ahead at 43-42.

The Wildcats had Harris sat on three fouls for most of the third, but did manage to establish a five-point lead before a 10-0 response put the Hatters back in control.

Nottingham restored their lead early in the fourth, but a four-minute drought allowed the hosts to take the initiative and Ellis Clayton’s triple made it 61-55.

The Hatters led by seven inside the final minute, but consecutive turnovers led to consecutive scores for Harris and another turnover followed, though Nottingham were unable to tie the game from downtown.

Gayle iced the game with a pair of free throws to finish perfect from the line as Sheffield improve to 10-5, while Nottingham drop to 11-3 ahead of Sunday’s clash with Leicester Riders.