WBBL Cup, First Round
Cardiff Met Archers 55 – 64 Caledonia Pride (19-22, 31-34, 47-43)
Caledonia Pride have progressed to the WBBL Cup quarter-finals for the first time after beating Cardiff Met Archers 64-55 on the road.
It is also Pride’s first ever WBBL win over Archers, and halts a run of consecutive defeats, courtesy of strong defence and a well-rounded team performance.
Leading scorers – Quick 25, Collins 11, Schnorr 9 (Archers); Reynolds 14, Thomson 13, Oakes 10 (Pride)
Turning point – Pride had led early on, but trailed heading into the fourth quarter. However, Kirsten Simpson opened the decisive ten minutes with consecutive scores to tie it, before Pride posted a game-winning 12-2 surge midway through the period, Tricia Oakes scoring five to make the score 59-53. They held their hosts scoreless for five minutes in that spell.
Key stat – Defence won this game for Pride. With only 55 conceded, it was easily their best defensive performance of the season as they restricted Archers to just 26% shooting from the field. They snatched a huge 38 defensive rebounds on those misses.
Game hero(es) – Pride spread their scoring, with Sarah Thomson scoring 14 points and Rosanna Reynolds adding 13. Reynolds grabbed 10 of those defensive rebounds for a double-double, while Thomson pulled in eight – they combined for nearly half of their team’s defensive boards.