29 Apr 2017: Wildcats 77-46 Archers

Ashley Harris and Siobhan Prior lead Nottingham Wildcats into the WBBL Championship Play-off semi-finals.

WBBL Championship Play-offs, Quarter-Final
Nottingham Wildcats 77 (26,42,67) (Harris 26, Prior 22, Mendes 10)
Cardiff Met Archers 46 (10,21,36) (Fritz 18, Collins 9, Lemoigne/Stradling 6)

Nottingham Wildcats are through to the WBBL Championship Play-off semi-finals after overpowering Cardiff Met Archers 77-46 in the East Midlands on Saturday, with Ashley Harris posting another big double-double of 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Wildcats are unbeaten in seven WBBL meetings with Archers, and had twice beaten them by more than thirty in this campaign.

They were also unbeaten at home throughout the league season, and all of that showed as they were 14-0 up inside three minutes when Siobhan Prior opened the game with two early three-pointers, and Ashley Harris added two more on her way to eight early points.

Stef Collins single-handedly fought back for the visiting Archers, but Hannah Shaw came from the bench to make back-to-back scores for Wildcats, and they led 26-10 after ten minutes, with Prior adding another trey.

Wildcats average six three-pointers per game, and they had made as many by the end of the first quarter, while allowing Archers to shoot just 20% from the field in the first half.

Archers, who had made it into the last Play-off place with three wins in their final six games, had no way back against the league champions.

Harris added nine more points in the first five minutes of the second stanza, and the lead went through 30 as Harris added four more and Prior hit another triple in a 9-2 run in the third period, reaching 64-33 when Prior added two more three-pointers, shooting 6/7 to that point.

And it stayed at that margin as Wildcats held their visitors scoreless for the first five minutes of the fourth, in what was their third best defensive performance of the season, while Melisa Mendes and Maya Hyacienth added late triples.

Wildcats are the top seeds, they’ve won back-to-back WBBL Championship titles, but they have never followed that up with a Play-off crown, having been runners-up in each of the last two campaigns.