WBBL Championship
Caledonia Pride 70-67 Cardiff Met Archers – After OT (15-15, 31-33, 49-42, 60-60)
(Pride – James 29, McGarrahan 13, Phillips 11; Archers – Marchizotti 19, Jorgensen 14, Hatch 13)
WBBL Championship
Essex Rebels 88-91 Nottingham Wildcats (23-31, 45-55, 70-71)
(Rebels – Paxton 15, Kohlhaas 15, Waithe 14; Wildcats – Edmonds 26, Egharevba 19, Pannell 17)
WBBL Championship
Gloucester City Queens 58-110 Durham Palatinates (11-23, 23-56, 42-80)
(Queens – Marques 16, Ball 13, Bautista 12; Palatinates – Hurtado Barbeito 26, Wayne 16, Wood 15)
WBBL Championship
Leicester Riders 97-102 Manchester Met Mystics – After OT (20-25, 39-45, 58-64, 83-83, 97-102)
(Riders – Lappenkuper 29, Hamilton 21, Januszewska 16; Mystics – Williams 39, Jones 21, Bailey 18)
WBBL Championship
Sevenoaks Suns 76-90 London Lions (16-19, 43-36, 62-65)
(Suns – Monakana 24, Carr 14, Busch 14; Lions – Beckford-Norton 17, Leedham-Warner 16, Stewart 15)
Durham Palatinates rounded off the contenders for the 2021/22 WBBL Playoffs as they secured the eighth and final place in an incredible last day of the WBBL Championship season.
With 10 of 12 teams taking to the court on Sunday, London Lions clinched a remarkable 24-0 season with a comeback win over Sevenoaks Suns, whilst the remaining Playoff seedings were confirmed with two games going to overtime.
Durham went into their game with Gloucester City Queens knowing a win would be enough to secure the eighth seed, and they sounded off in emphatic fashion with a commanding win. Holding the Queens to only 11 first quarter points, Durham dominated on the inside as they took control early on against short-handed Gloucester.
With a 33-point lead by the half, Durham kept the pressure up as they passed the 100-point mark for the first time this season.
Goretti Hurtado Barbeito led Durham with 29 points as Elle Hendershot posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The regular season wrapped up with the top two sides in the Championship serving up a thriller as London secured only the second perfect record in WBBL history. Sevenoaks certainly looked to spoil the Lions part and lay down a marker heading into the Playoffs, and a 9-2 run late in the first half gave the Suns a seven-point lead going into the half.
London exploded out of the blocks after the half, and a Sheiqulia Joseph layup with three seconds to go gave London a three-point lead. After a dominant offensive showing in the third, London locked the gates in the fourth and held the Suns to only 14 points.
The ever-impressive pair of Shanice Beckford-Norton and Joey Leedham-Warner led the Lions with 17 and 16 points respectively, with Leedham-Warner adding 10 rebounds.
With a perfect season for the Champions confirmed, prior to that there were Playoff seedings still to be decided, Caledonia Pride knew a win would secure them the sixth seed. They were made to work against a Cardiff Met Archers side out of the Playoff picture, as the two teams served up an overtime thriller.
Pride held a seven-point lead going into the final quarter before the Archers fought back, and Issy Bunyan sunk a huge triple with nine seconds remaining. Cardiff then had the opportunity to win the game, however Lauren Saiki missed two free throws with three seconds remaining on the clock. With only one point separating the sides going into the final minute of overtime, Erin McGarrahan secured the win and sixth place for the Pride.
Laken James led the way for the Pride with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Nottingham Wildcats entered the day in seventh place however had the opportunity to leapfrog Pride and their opponents on the day, Essex Rebels. In another enthralling encounter that went down to the wire, Nottingham dug deep for a huge win.
They started the ballgame excellently, posting 31 points in the first quarter as they found their footing early. Shaunay Edmonds erupted in the first half for 21 points as the Wildcats took the lead into the break. Whatever coach Sadler said to the Rebels at halftime certainly worked, as the Rebels held the free scoring Wildcats to only 16 points in the third to make it a one-point game.
Nottingham improved in the final quarter, and despite a spirited late comeback from the Rebels, a nine-point lead with just under two minutes to go proved too much for Essex to hang onto fifth spot.
Edmonds finished with a game-high 26 points, whilst Praise Egharevba posted yet another double-double of 19 points and 16 rebounds.
Manchester Met Mystics came into Sunday with hopes of stealing that eighth spot from Durham, however were reliant on the Queens overcoming the Palatinates. Despite the disappointment of missing the Playoffs, Manchester rounded off their season with an impressive overtime win over Leicester Riders.
With the Riders already confirmed for fourth place, the Mystics came out flying in their bid to give themselves the best opportunity possible. They held a six point in the final quarter, but found themselves trailing by three heading into the final minute. Up stepped Erika Williams, who nailed the tying triple on her way to a 39-point game to ensure Manchester’s season would go on for five more minutes.
Those five minutes left little time to catch your breath, as Manchester sunk four late free throws to ensure they would end their season with the win.