Evelyn Ovner led Manchester Mystics through overtime at Essex Sports Arena.
WBBL Championship
Essex Rebels 84 – 87 Manchester Mystics (16-26, 35-43, 56-67, 78-78)
After overtime
Manchester Mystics remain unbeaten on the road so far in this WBBL Championship campaign, prevailing through overtime to win 87-84 on a first ever trip to Essex Rebels.
Mystics had previously knocked Rebels out of the WBBL Cup, and are now joint-second in the league with a record of 5-1.
Leading scorers – Jessy Ward 34, DeAngelique Waithe 21, Cat Lutz 13 (Rebels); Evelyn Ovner 26, Georgia Jones 22, Samantha Roscoe 18 (Mystics)
Turning point – Mystics held a double-digit lead early on, but trailed approaching the final minute until Georgia Jones scored to force overtime. Once in the extra period, Samantha Roscoe made the key play to break a tie with an ‘and-one’ score to put them 85-82 in front and Rebels couldn’t manage a score under pressure on the final play.
Key stat – In a game where neither team shot well, Mystics crucially won the battle of the boards 60-54, scoring 13 second chance points compared to just six for their hosts.
Game hero(es) – Mystics welcomed back GB star Georgia Jones, fresh from Eurobasket Women 2019 qualification, and she came close to a triple-double with 22 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Evelyn Ovner led the scoring with 26 points, while Roscoe had a big double-double of 18 points and 17 rebounds.