Kate Oliver and Dee Hayward lead Leicester Riders up to second in the WBBL Championship.
WBBL Championship
Leicester Riders 87 – 68 Oaklands Wolves (23-7, 46-21, 71-52)
Leicester Riders have climbed to second place in the WBBL Championship table, with a 7-1 record, after beating Oaklands Wolves 87-68 at Leicester Arena.
Riders remain unbeaten against Wolves in six games in all WBBL competitions, and this is their fourth straight league win dating back to October as they pursue Sevenoaks Suns at the summit.
Leading scorers – Oliver 20, Hayward 18, Winterburn 14 (Riders); Harrison 19, Milligan 13, Sarson 10 (Wolves)
Turning point – Riders were lightning out of the blocks and won this game early on. Dee Hayward scored all of their points in a 9-2 opening, and the lead was double-figures when Holly Winterburn scored consecutively to make it 17-4 after seven minutes. Wolves never managed to get the deficit within single figures thereafter.
Key stat – Leicester’s intense defence set the tone early in the game as they forced a massive 10 first quarter turnovers and scored 12 points from those; those figures were 21 and 24 respectively by the final buzzer.
Game hero – Dee Hayward scored 11 points in that crucial first quarter, and finished with 18 points shooting 83% from the field and 100% from the free-throw line. Kate Oliver led all scoring with 20 points, while Alex Smith dished an amazing 15 assists.