WBBL Championship
Caledonia Gladiators 84 – 57 Oaklands Wolves (19-16, 23-9, 17-15, 25-17)
(Gladiators – Mcgarrachan 31, Wolf 14, Handy 13; Wolves – Smith 28, Gould 18, George 7)

WBBL Championship
Cardiff Met Archers 82 – 91 Sheffield Hatters (30-19, 18-31, 22-23, 12-18)
(Archers – Saiki 22, Hatch 15, Yunker/Bunyan 12; Hatters – Gayle 26, Murphy 21, Fairley/Niang 8)

WBBL Championship
Essex Rebels 44 – 106 London Lions (14-27, 8-26, 10-30, 12-23)
(Rebels – Swart 13, Freeman/Haines 9, Turner 6; Lions – Snytsina 15, Winterburn 14, Herbert-Harrigan 13)

WBBL Championship
Nottingham Wildcats 70 – 80 Sevenoaks Suns (16-21, 14-18, 24-23, 16-18)
(Wildcats – Shaw 23, Nicholas 19, Stewart 9; Suns – Bradshaw 21, Hodges 16, Monakana 13)

In a Saturday full of WBBL action, the Caledonia Gladiators welcomed the Oakland Wolves to the Lagoon Leisure Centre for the first game, coming out on top 84-57.

Erin McGarrachan ran the show for the Gladiators with a double-double of 31 points and 14 rebounds, followed by Abbie Wolf, who recorded her own double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. 

Jorjah Smith and Cassidy Gould’s heroics of 28 and 18 points, respectively – which saw them score 84% of their team’s total offence – were not enough to help the Wolves to victory.

The game started with Caledonia playing suffocating defence and restricting their opponents from scoring for the first four minutes, while rushing to a 10-0 run themselves.

Despite a slow start by the Wolves, the away side quickly turned things around, led by Smith who drained three consecutive triples and brought her team to within four (15-11).

Gould then topped off a brilliant 11-1 run for Oaklands to make it a one possession game (15-13) with two minutes to go until the end of the first.

Smith was not done, however, as she managed to score another three to close the gap to just one point (17-16) with one minute remaining until the end of the first period. 

While it seemed like the momentum was in favour of the visitors, the second quarter belonged firmly to the Gladiators.

A great pass by Caledonia’s Patricia Elias found Wolf in the post, who then pump faked her defender and laid it in to give her team a six-point buffer (25-19).

Smith returned the favour with her own eye-of-the-needle pass, finding a cutting Gould all alone under the basket for the easy two (25-21), halfway through the second.

The Scots turned the game on its head, going on a 13-0 run, to lead 38-21, after McGarrachan scored the put back off the offensive rebound.

The Gladiators managed to increase their lead to a game-high 19 points (42-23) when Tea Adams hit her long-range jumper off a McGarrachan assist.

The second half started with Smith picking up from where she’d left off, hitting yet another three-pointer, taking her tally to 5/7.

Wolves coach Tor Freeman must have told his players during the break to push the tempo and that’s exactly what they tried to do in the third period.

First with Gould going coast to coast for the and-one play and then with Smith, who cut the deficit to 13 (48-35), forcing Caledonia into a timeout.

Up until that point the Glads were playing most of their offence inside the paint, not having scored any three-pointers. 

Caledonia coach Miguel Angel Ortega Marco must have wanted to see that change, so he ran a play that saw Chantelle Handy hit her team’s first shot from behind the arc, before Elias did the same, increasing the home side’s lead to 19 (56-37).

Going into the final quarter, Oaklands knew they had to put together a couple of big runs in order to have any chance at a big comeback, but Caledonia were the ones who came out flying, with Kerry McGhee nailing a three and giving her side their biggest lead so far (62-40).

That lead increased further to 26 points (66-40), when Adams worked the post and hit it off the glass with just over seven minutes left until the end.

Smith proceeded to hit yet another triple – her sixth of the game – to briefly cut the gap, before McGarrachan’s free throw put the lead back to 26 (69-43).

The visitors gave it one last push through their tenacious defence and went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 20 (69-49) with five minutes left, but a three from Elias effectively called game with the score 72-49.

The final five minutes saw the two sides empty their benches, allowing some of the younger players to get an opportunity at some minutes, exchanging baskets, with the Gladiators sealing an 84-57 W.

With this win Caledonia move up to 6-1 in the championship standings, while Oaklands fall to 2-7.

In the second match, the Sheffield Hatters travelled down to Wales to face off against the Cardiff Met Archers, coming away with a hard-fought 82-91 win.

Georgia Gayle led the Hatters with 26 points and eight rebounds, with Karly Murphy also putting up excellent numbers and recording a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Lauren Saiki’s 22 points and eight assists were not enough for the Archers.

The game started in the best possible circumstances for the home side, who finished the first 10 minutes up by double digits (30-19).

Although the first five minutes were evenly balanced with just a one-point difference (8-7), Cardiff went on a 6-0 run in the next minute to pull away by seven (14-7), after Lara Habling laid the ball in.

Another 7-0 run just a couple of minutes later – capped off by Shannon Hatch – saw the Welsh side lead by as many as 15 (29-14), before Sheffield managed to close the gap before the end of the first period.

While the first quarter belonged firmly to the home team, the second was the complete opposite and was dominated by the visitors.

That didn’t appear to be the case when it started, as Cardiff managed to take a 13-point lead (38-25), after Saiki converted from the stripe following a tough and-one play.

That’s when things started to change, as the Hatters went on a 9-0 run, before taking the lead (40-42) for the first time since the first possession just two minutes later, off the back of an 8-0 run this time.

Over the course of four minutes, a resurgent Sheffield side had gone on an incredible 17-4 run to turn the game on its head.

The final three minutes of the half saw the two teams exchange buckets, with the Hatters taking a slim two-point lead to the locker rooms.

With the first two quarters so one-sided in favour of either team, one would expect the second half to be the same, but it was the complete opposite, giving the audience in attendance a very close game right to the end.

Though Hatch tied the game up for the Archers at 50 apiece, the Hatters went on another run, this time 8-0, to increase their lead to its highest margin up until that point (50-58), following Murphy’s lay-up.

An excellent four-point play by Gayle then saw her team get a double-digit lead for the first time (52-62), with less than six minutes to go until the end of the third.

Six unanswered points from two triples by Helen Naylor saw the visitors go up by 16 (57-73), which marked their largest lead of the entire game.

The home side weren’t just going to roll over, managing to close out the third period on an impressive 13-0 run, that saw them go into the final 10 minutes with all to play for, just three points down (70-73).

A 7-0 run by Sheffield to start the fourth, saw them regain that double-digit cushion and calm any nerves they might have had after seeing their 16-point lead disappear at the end of the third.

With just five minutes left until the final buzzer, Cardiff gave it one last push to try and close the gap, going on a 6-0 run and coming to within six points (80-86).

A long-range jumper by Lena Niang, followed by one from Gayle however, increased the Sheffield lead back up to double digits (80-90), with 90 seconds to go and effectively called game.

With this dub the Hatters move to second place on a record of 7-1, while the Archers drop to 3-5.

In the third of today’s matches, the London Lions travelled east to take on the Essex Rebels, securing a comfortable 44-106 win and remaining undefeated in the championship.

Seven players were in double figures for the Lions, who were led by top scorer Katsiaryna Snytsina with 15 points.

Sune Swart’s 13 points in just 23 minutes of action were not enough for the Rebels to secure the win.

The game started with the visitors rushing to a 7-0 lead, with top scorer Snytsina scoring five of those, before Tia Freeman opened the scoring for the home side with a lay-up.

Two pairs of free throws by Essex saw them close the gap to just one point (6-7), before taking the lead halfway through the first (12-11), when Daniela Turner laid the ball in.

That was the last time in the game that the Rebels would lead, with the Lions quickly regaining the advantage after Holly Winterburn drained a triple off the assist by Snytsina.

With the difference at just three points going into the final two minutes of the first quarter, London proceeded to go on a 10-0 run and assert their control to close out the period up by 13 (14-27).

The second quarter was dominated by the Lions’ defence that saw them hold their opponents to just eight points, while they scored 26.

That included a four-minute period that saw the Londoners go on a 15-0 run to explode the difference to 28 points (18-46), after Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan connected from downtown.

The two sides then exchanged baskets in the final couple of minutes, with the visitors taking a 31-point lead going to the locker rooms (22-53).

Despite having a commanding lead to start the second half, the Lions were ruthless and didn’t take their foot off the pedal, putting in their best performance of the match, winning the third quarter 10-30.

It began with an 8-0 run right from the off, before a 7-0 run halfway through the period and then a 12-0 run to close out the period ahead by 51 points (32-83).

The Rebels didn’t stop fighting, beginning the last 10 minutes with a 5-0 run of their own, before Snytsina’s third triple of the night snapped the run.

Halfway through the final quarter, the Lions went on another 9-0 run, extending their lead to its highest margin so far of 57 points (38-95), after Paige Robinson hit one of her two free throws.

Another 7-0 run by the visitors with two minutes to go until the final buzzer saw the difference increase to a game-high 63 (102-39), before the two teams exchanged a couple of baskets to finish the game.

With this win the Lions stay undefeated in the championship, moving to a record of 8-0, while the Rebels fall to 4-6.

For the nightcap, the Sevenoaks Suns travelled up to the Midlands to go head-to-head with the Nottingham Wildcats, in what proved to be another tight encounter, with the visitors coming out on top 70-80.

Araion Bradshaw led the way for the Suns with 21 points and seven assists, while Brittany Hodges came off the bench to add another 16.

Kayla Shaw’s 23 points and Kennedy Nicholas’ double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds were not enough for the Wildcats, who just missed out on the win.

The game started with Sevenoaks controlling the tempo and forcing Nottingham into some really tough shots, restricting them to just four points in the first five minutes, going up 4-12.

A pair of consecutive three-pointers by the home side changed that, first with Kayla Shaw and then with Brahe Ashton, to make it a one possession game (10-12).

Just as the first quarter was winding down and the two teams were neck and neck, Janice Monakana grabbed the offensive board and scored an and-one – going off injured briefly in the process – to put her team up by five (16-21).

The second period began with the Suns increasing their lead up to eight points again (20-28), when Bradshaw converted from behind the three-point line.

A lay-up by Shambria Washington a couple of minutes later saw the visitors extend their lead to nine (22-31), before a triple from Shaw allowed Nottingham to close the gap back down to six on the very next play (25-31).

Sevenoaks reached their first double-digit lead when Bradshaw found an unmarked Renee Busch in the corner, who hit nothing but net from behind the arc.

Bradshaw then went 1/2 from the free throw line to increase the gap to 13 points (25-38) – marking the largest lead of the first half for the Suns.

Notts managed to close out the half with a 5-0 run, cutting the deficit to single digits before the two teams headed to the locker rooms.

The third quarter was the highest scoring 10 minutes of the game, with a combined total of 47 points between the two teams.

It started with Washington hitting a long two, with Shaw then returning the favour when she put her defender on skates and scored a triple, to close the gap to eight (33-41).

Another three-pointer for Nottingham – this time from Jahnae Gyles – saw the home side come to within five (38-43) with three minutes played in the second half.

Yet another shot from downtown – this time from Brahe Ashton – brought the Wildcats to within one (48-49), on the back of a 7-0 run.

Two lay-ups – first from Hodges and then from Bradshaw – gave the Suns some much needed breathing room, increasing the lead back to five points (48-53).

Bradshaw then ended the quarter with a brilliant cross-over, which saw her drive to the basket and lay it in at the buzzer, sending her team to into the final 10 minutes ahead 54-62.

A three-pointer by Busch to start the period sent the difference to double digits (54-65).

With six minutes to go, Imani Whittington’s three set up what turned out to be a brilliant two-and-a-half minutes for Nottingham, who led by their tenacious defence, forced Sevenoaks into taking tough shots and went on a 13-0 run – to take the lead for the first time in the entire game (70-69).

Just when it looked like the Wildcats were going to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat after grabbing their first lead, the Suns managed to regain their composure and finished the game on a 10-0 run, brilliantly securing the W.

With this win Sevenoaks move to a record of 6-3, while Nottingham drop to 2-7.

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