WBBL Championship
Oaklands Wolves 81-79 Manchester Met Mystics (24-19, 44-36, 61-58)
(Wolves: Smith, 24; George, 21; Gould, 12 – Mystics: Keltos, 24; Sanchez Czerniecki, 23; Robinson/McDerment, 14)
WBBL Championship
Newcastle Eagles 75-53 B.Braun Sheffield Hatters (14-14, 24-27, 60-50)
(Eagles: Lewis, 19; Gaynor, 16; Nolan, 12 – Hatters: Niang, 12; Naylor/Fairley, 10; Gayle, 5)
WBBL Championship
Caledonia Gladiators 72–41 Cardiff Met Archers (12-4, 36-18, 58-28)
(Gladiators: Adams, 28; Handy, 11; Elias, 9 — Archers: Saiki/Hatch, 11; Marchizotti, 8; Yunker, 8)
WBBL Championship
Sevenoaks Suns 77-66 Durham Palatinates (18-25, 43-41, 60-56)
(Suns: Washington, 26; Bradshaw, 16; Koppl, 12 — Palatinates: Ottewill-Soulsby, 24; Bautista-Villaverde, 11; Wayne, 10)
A solid second half lifted the Newcastle Eagles to a 75-53 win over B Braun Sheffield Hatters at the Vertu Motors Arena on Saturday.
Trailing by three points at half-time, the Eagles managed to turn the game on its head with a 13-point swing to end the third before pulling clear in the final quarter as Hatters’ foul troubles haunted them.
Antoinette Lewis exploded for a monster double-double of 19 points and 16 rebounds while shooting 8/11 from the field as Newcastle handed Sheffield their third loss of the season.
Lena Niang led the Hatters with 12 points.
It was a scrappy first few possessions with both sides trading buckets in a physical few three minutes of play.
Eagles had raced out to a 6-2 lead but were pegged back with a finish inside by Karly Murphy.
That four-point advantage turned out to be the most significant lead of an even first ten minutes, where the Eagles looked to have the edge until a score on the buzzer from Helen Naylor tied the game at 14-14 heading into the second.
And Hatters were able to retake the lead thanks to scores from Murphy and Niang, and it wasn’t until four minutes in the second had been played when Chloe Gaynor scored to put Eagles on the board.
It was the first of six second-quarter points for Gaynor, as she kept Newcastle in the game, but the Hatters led by three at the half.
But Sheffield’s advantage would soon be dealt a blow as Georgia Gayle picked up her fourth foul in the early stages of the third.
And mixed with Nicolette Fairley also on four fouls, Newcastle were able to take advantage with Katie Nolan having her way inside as the hosts led 50-40 after three.
The Abby Lowe and Nolan duo extended the Eagles’ double-digit cushion as Fairley and Gayle fouled out, and the hosts enjoyed their biggest lead at 24 points in the final period to grind out a big win in front of another big Vertu Motors Arena crowd.
Oaklands Wolves secured a nail-biting 81-79 win over Manchester Met Mystics, with Grace George holding her nerve at Oaklands College to make a winning free throw at the end of the game.
A three from Shaelynne Sanchez Czerniecki gave Manchester hope at 80-79 with 1:08 remaining. However, the Mystics failed to capitalise.
Three turnovers and two missed field goal attempts in less than a minute sealed their fate, allowing George to ice the game at the foul line with 10 seconds left.
Jorjah Smith led Oaklands with 24 points – her fifth career 20-point game – supported by 21 from George as the Wolves secured their third win of the campaign.
Sam Keltos went for 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Mystics, but they remain winless after 11 games.
Six early points – both three-point plays – from George gave Oaklands the early advantage as defensively, Manchester couldn’t contain the duo of Smith and George who provided the bulk of the hosts’ offence.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Sanchez Czerniecki kept the visitors interested, but they still trailed 17-13 with 3:28 left in the first.
The Wolves maintained their solid execution on the offensive end to lead by five after the first period.
A three from Miriam Carrasco-Menendez to start the second extended the hosts’ advantage to 27-19 before a long-range response from Jo Vourliotis, her only points of the game, put out the fire.
But it was temporary; Oaklands were still hot, and a jumper from George with 6:21 left restored her side’s eight-point cushion.
The Mystics hit back as the second quarter progressed but at the half, the hosts still held the lead.
And within the first minute of the third period, a lay-up from Gould handed the hosts their first double-digit cushion of the game at 46-36.
As was the case in the game, the offence ran through George, Gould and Smith, but it was effective. Manchester’s defence, though physical, couldn’t come up with an answer to the trio.
Offensively, they found solace in Keltos as she inspired a 6-0 finish to the third to leave the game all to play for in the final quarter.
However, Manchester seemed to freeze when the fourth began, as the Wolves started on a 10-0 run to race clear 71-58 with 7:26 left, forcing Mystics coach Marg Jones to call time.
And out of the timeout, Manchester responded with an 8-0 burst of their own, capped off by a three from Keltos to leave the game firmly in the balance.
Thankfully for Oaklands, they took advantage of their opportunity to win, whereas Manchester could not.
Caledonia Gladiators put together a solid all-round performance to beat the Cardiff Met Archers 72-41 at Lagoon Leisure Centre.
In front of a vocal crowd in Paisley, the Gladiators rewarded them by shooting 43% from the field, an improvement on a subpar percentage in the first quarter, with Tea Adams going for a game-high 28 points.
Shannon Hatch and Lauren Saiki had 11 points for the visitors, who battled but were ultimately outplayed.
Gladiators took the early initiative as they raced to a 10-4 lead with 3:45 left in the first quarter, as a driving lay-up from Patricia Elias forced Cardiff coach Stef Collins to call a timeout.
For the Archers, the first quarter was a struggle. Having to fight for everything inside and being guarded closely around the perimeter, they could not find their rhythm.
On the flip side, Caledonia’s offence wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders, going just 5/20 in the first ten minutes defence was undoubtedly the main factor in their 12-4 lead heading into the second, holding the Archers to 2/14.
And soon enough, the hosts’ lead grew into double digits, highlighted by an open triple from the wing by Tea Adams.
Cardiff responded almost immediately with a transition score from Abbie Yunker, but the Gladiators were still determined and offensively started to click.
Five quick points from Chantelle Handy ballooned Caledonia’s lead to 25-8 halfway through the second as the visitors’ struggles on the field continued.
However, soon enough, the Archers got a break as the skilful Lauren Saiki got her side into double figures as her fearless attacking style helped Cardiff.
Caledonia though were too strong in the first half, showcasing their defensive prowess in the first quarter, mixed with solid offence in the second.
And for the rampant Gladiators, both were on show in the early stages of the third period. Led by Adams, the hosts pulled further clear at 47-22 with three minutes of the quarter played.
It was the first of ten third quarter points for Adams and 22 overall at this point as Caledonia had a comfortable 58-28 cushion after three.
Cardiff’s determination and effort could not be criticised, but for them, this wasn’t their day as the fourth period saw Caledonia’s lead stay at 30 points for the majority, en route to the win.
Sevenoaks Suns came from behind to get the better of the Durham Palatinates 77-66 at Tasis.
Trailing by nine points in the early stages of the second period, the Suns’ offence wasn’t clicking against a determined Durham side.
However, Sevenoaks fought back and didn’t see daylight until an 8-0 run in the early stages of the final period saw them pull clear and withstand a positive end from the visitors.
Shambria Washington paced Sevenoaks to victory with 26 points on 55% shooting. Araion Bradshaw added 16 to go with eight assists and seven rebounds.
Harriett Ottewill-Soulsby led Durham with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
For a side that enjoyed a big win last weekend against Caledonia, the Palatinates started slowly in the south as Sevenoaks, playing for the first time this season at Tasis, went in front.
A triple and free throws from Inma Bautista-Villaverde gave Durham the lead with four minutes of the first quarter gone.
Sevenoaks were able to wrestle back their advantage as both teams found open looks in the first period but were unable to make them count, until Ottewill-Soulsby scored back-to-back baskets to give Palatinates a 15-13 cushion.
And it was the visitors who finished the stronger of the two teams as they extended their lead to seven points after a very scrappy first ten.
Julia Koppl got the second quarter going with a basket, which was followed by a three from Janice Monakana, with a score from Durham’s Elle Hendershot sandwiched in between.
The pace quickened and the execution was evident to begin the second, which favoured the visitors, highlighted by a triple from Bautista-Villaverde, which gave Durham a 32-23 cushion in the early stages of the quarter.
The Suns responded with a 7-0 burst to narrow the gap to just two points as the quarter reverted to its scrappy and physical nature as both sides battled hard.
With the overall lead moving around towards the end of the half, it looked set to be all-square until Bautista-Villaverde fouled Bradshaw with two ticks left, which left the American free to convert both foul shots to put the Suns in front 43-41.
But as soon as the third quarter began, Durham got their cushion back as Ottewill-Soulsby pulled Durham ahead once more.
Sevenoaks though are not a team to simply lie down, and retook the lead once more thanks to a triple from Washington, one of her six that dropped in the game.
The hosts kept battling away against their stubborn counterparts from the north and took a 60-56 lead going into the final ten minutes.
From there, Durham – with two of their starting five playing all 40 minutes – looked fatigued, which gave the Suns their time to shine. An 8-0 spurt handed them a 70-60 cushion and they never looked back.
Saturday’s action was the perfect build-up to Sunday’s WBBL Cup final. Catch all the action on Sky Sports and via YouTube by clicking here.