Brea Elmore’s buzzer-beater sends Leicester Riders top.
WBBL Championship
Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters 71-74 Leicester Riders (20-16, 37-36, 54-49)
A buzzer-beating winner from Brea Elmore has sent Leicester Riders to the summit of the WBBL Championship table after a 74-71 road win at title rivals Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters.
Riders have now won 10 straight games in all competitions since the opening day of the season, and hold six straight wins over Hatters after they met five times across each of the WBBL competitions last season.
Leading scorers – Sarah Toeaina 25, Luiana Livulo 15, Alison Gorrell 12 (Hatters); Holly Winterburn 22, Brea Elmore 21, Claire Paxton 11 (Riders)
Turning point – The teams were level in the league table, and they were level until the dying seconds of this game. After 14 lead changes throughout, they were tied three times in the last two minutes, meaning that it went down to the final possession as Riders emerged from a timeout and Brea Elmore hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to win it. She had also scored consecutively to level the game approaching the final two minutes after Riders had trailed by as many as seven in the fourth quarter.
Key stat – In a hard fought game defence was key, and Riders scored 14 points from the 18 turnovers that they forced, while also holding key threats Alison Gorrell and Helen Naylor – both top ten scorers in the league – to a combined 17 points on 5-21 (24%) shooting.
Game hero – Elmore hit the big shots late on, including the buzzer-beating heroics, and she finished with 21 points, shooting 66% inside, to go with nine rebounds and six assists.