WBBL Championship
Caledonia Pride 75-92 Nottingham Wildcats (18-22, 37-47, 59-71, 75-92)
(Pride: S.Phillips – 24, M.Ranger – 17, E.Doherty – 15; Wildcats: C.Shumpert – 26, S.Costa – 20, M.Lundqvist – 18)
WBBL Championship
Durham Palatinates 67-68 Cardiff Met Archers (20-18, 40-39, 47-52, 67-68)
(Palatinates: C.Paxton – 21, K.Elderkin – 20, L.Van Straaten – 10; Archers: K.Kheing – 18, M.Ball – 18, S.Hatch – 12)
Siobhan Prior became the 10th player in WBBL history to score 1000 WBBL Championship points this evening, as her team Nottingham Wildcats comfortably beat Caledonia Pride, but it was a lot less comfortable for Cardiff Met Archers who scraped a one point victory against Durham Palatinates.
Wildcats, who are without Jasmine Joyner for the foreseeable future, were inspired by another superb Chelsey Shumpert display, as the guard scored 26 points, but it was Moa Lundqvist’s stat-line that was arguably most impressive, as she scored 18 points and grabbed a huge 15 rebounds.
Simone Costa scored an impressive 20 points as well as making six assists, while Wildcats captain Prior contributed eight points in her milestone making game, along with four rebounds and three assists.
The issues for the Pride came from their turnovers, points off the bench and defence in the paint, but fantastic double-doubles from Sian Phillips, who managed 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Ella Doherty, who managed the same amount of rebounds and scored 15 points, were very encouraging for the team from Scotland.
Guard Maud Ranger also nearly managed a double-double with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Pollyanna Storie’s ten points also helped the Pride stay in with a shout, but ultimately the Wildcats’ scoring depth really helped them to victory and it ended a home defeat for Caledonia.
Meanwhile in the North-East, the Palatinates put up a strong fight but ultimately lost by just a single point against the Met Archers, who were led by 18 points each from guards Kim Kheing and Marlee Ball who managed seven assists and eight rebounds respectively in addition.
The Archers got the victory mainly due to their starting five all managing to score seven or more points, with Shannon Hatch also reaching double figures with her tally of 12 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds too as well as making her team’s only block of the game.
The Palatinates enjoyed most of their success in the paint, with Kara Elderkin scoring 20 points while grabbing 17 rebounds – and nine of them being on the offensive backboard thanks to her dominating presence.
Elderkin was only beaten in scoring by teammate Claire Paxton, who managed 21 points from a field goal percentage of 75%, but apart from Lies Van Straaten who put up ten points, everyone else on the team could only manage a maximum of five points which ultimately cost the home side the victory.