WBBL Championship

Newcastle Eagles 60-82 Leicester Riders (15-20, 17-23, 14-22, 14-17)
Eagles – Lewis 15, Justinak 13, multiple 7; Riders – Squires 19, Fee 14, Johnston 10

The Big One lived up to its name at Vertu Motors Arena when the Newcastle Eagles played the Leicester Riders in front of a record-breaking regular season crowd.

The visitors put on a good show for the 1,303 supporters. Oliana Squires scored 19 points, but the Riders were led to victory by McKenzie Johnston, who notched a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

For the home team, last week’s All Star 5 player Antoinette Lewis kept the Eagles going with 10 rebounds of her own, plus 15 points, thanks to 12 trips to the free throw line.

The large crowd was welcomed into the game with a big three from Newcastle’s Zoe Willis, but the visitors built up a slim lead thanks to good ball movement.

The Riders were well organised and knew where to move the ball with each trigger.

When it went to the top of the key, players moved and the passer knew where to find each cutting teammate.

This was evident on a beautiful play by Leicester that recognised the overloaded defence by Newcastle.

Eagles centre Antoinette Lewis was dropping off McKenzie Johnston on the weak side.

The ball was passed across to her and she attacked Lewis’ close-out to force multiple defenders to collapse on her in the paint, but Emma Fee cut through the lane to get a contested layup.

The Eagles still had plenty of fight and weren’t letting the smooth Riders offence get to them. Maggie Justinak brought it to a three-point game with 30 seconds to go on a fast break that ended in a floater over the top of two defenders on her drive through the lane.

Jessica Eadsforth-Yates got open to score on an out-of-bounds possession as the first quarter came to a close but it was an exciting first quarter that was a sign of things to come.

The Riders kept the pace high on the first possession of the second quarter.

Off a miss, Hannah Robb grabbed the rebound and found Johnston streaking ahead of the pack for a transition layup.

The next time down, Robb made her scoring presence felt by finding some open space on the perimeter, where she does most of her damage, and drained an open three.

Newcastle’s Marina Fernandez Pardo showed why she is one of Newcastle’s most dangerous players.

The Riders defence looked like it had shut down Newcastle’s offence, but the Spaniard hesitated on her dribble from the left wing and duked her defender, getting to the basket for a well-earned layup.

Leicester kept finding a gap on the right side of the floor, and Eadsforth-Yates caught the pass from Brown to hit an open three.

Justinak wowed the audience on a Dirk Nowitzki-like one-footed fadeaway from the edge of the key, but the Riders didn’t wait around, and Robb once again found a teammate up ahead, with Brown receiving the ball and converting an easy two points.

Good defensive pressure by the Eagles forced the Riders into some sloppy passing and turnovers, which caused Coach Krumesh Patel to call a timeout.

Out of the break, the Riders set a full court press to slow down the comeback, but big Chloe Gaynor stepped over the half court line to receive the pass and relieve some pressure. Instead of waiting for teammates, she attacked and took the bump from her defender and got a tough layup to drop.

As the half was coming to a close, the Eagles managed another good defensive possession, and Fernandez Pardo grabbed the rebound.

Johnston crept up behind her and tapped the ball away to recover it and score a reverse layup before heading to the locker room up 11.

With three fouls, Justinak started the third quarter on the bench.

This hampered Newcastle’s offence slightly, and Leicester opened up the lead to 18 thanks to Oliana Squires’ passing and scoring.

Zoe Willis stopped the run by stealing a pass that might have led to a fast break for Leicester, but the Eagles forward got into the lane for a contested floater that finally fell.

With the gap beginning to grow, the Eagles changed tactics defensively.

Fernandez Pardo defended Ashley Arlen in the post, but Lewis doubled before the Riders forward could catch the ball.

This caused a turnover, and Newcastle pushed the ball to find Fernandez Pardo open for three up the other end.

Despite this fight, the Riders didn’t take their foot off the gas.

On an out of bounds possession with the shot clock fading fast, Squires passed the ball into Kirsty Brown, and immediately got it back on a hand off to dribble downhill against an open lane.

The defence recovered but Squires got a reverse layup to go off the glass, plus a foul, which she scored.

Katie Nolan scored for the Eagles on a quick possession, which saw the Riders go into the final frame with a 19-point lead.

Justinak and Rachel Bland got the scoreboard ticking for the Eagles for a positive start, but Squires rose up on the next possession and nailed a big three-point shot to push the gap to 20.

Coach Patel subbed out the scorer, along with three other players on the court and the victory went to the Riders.

The Eagles loss is the first after two wins in the Championship and they sit in eighth, while the Riders move to 7-1 to sit second in the table.

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