It’s our last All-Star Five of the calendar year and the debutantes still keep rolling in, with another three this week.
Giulia Simioni (Team Northumbria)
It was a bitter-sweet weekend for the Northumbria guard whose dreams of playing in her first WBBL Final were shattered by Caledonia Pride via Sunday’s Semi-Final loss. That came 48 hours after Simioni had cut down Pride live on BBC Sport in the Championship with 16 points, 6 assists and a steal.
Ta’Yani Clark (Sevenoaks Suns)
It’s a first appearance of the campaign for a familiar face who has been one of our illustrious starters on multiple occasions in the past. Clark lands her debut spot of 2017-18 after an amazing rebounding effort against BA London Lions with a staggering 20 rebounds adding to her 8 points.
Claire Paxton (Caledonia Pride)
Our second debutante of the week chose the perfect time to produce her best display of the season when laying the foundation for a note of WBBL history as Pride reached their first ever Final. Paxton carried Caledonia past Northumbria with 23 points from a fine 11 of 17 shooting effort.
Chantelle Pressley (Sevenoaks Suns)
The forward knows what it is like to appear in our line-up from previous seasons and she is back after taking Sevenoaks Suns to a dazzling 9-0 unbeaten record in the WBBL Championship. She was the pivotal figure for the leaders who swept aside BA London Lions, with Pressley amassing a classy 20 points and 8 rebounds.
Ashley Harris (Nottingham Wildcats)
The 2016-17 Molten WBBL Player of the Year becomes the first competitor to move to four starting appearances for the season, with Harris instrumental in propelling Wildcats into the WBBL Cup Final next month. Nottingham were on the ropes against Riders but she contributed a trademark double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Off the bench – Siobhan Prior (Nottingham Wildcats), Tricia Oakes (Caledonia Pride), Alison Gorrell (Team Northumbria), Cat Carr (Sevenoaks Suns), Deanne Hayward (Leicester Riders), Rosanna Reynolds (Caledonia Pride), Christina Gaskin (BA London Lions)