This week’s All-Star 5 is led by two of the individual performances of the season from Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby and Katie Nolan, representing rival North East teams that are picking up form in Durham Palatinates and Newcastle Eagles.

Hariet Ottewill-Soulsby – Durham Palatinates
British centre Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby recently returned to Durham after three seasons in Germany, and has been key to their improvement in form as they made it two wins in three games by beating Oaklands Wolves and jumping into the final Play-off spot. She had a huge double-double of 29 points and 13 rebounds, with five assists and four steals, as she shot 11-16 (68%) from the field and grabbed seven of those boards at the offensive end as Palatinates scored 20 second chance points, with eight of her points coming directly from those.

Katie Nolan – Newcastle Eagles
Also in the North East on Saturday, Newcastle made it back-to-back home wins as they beat Manchester Met Mystics at Vertu Motors Arena, leading to a third All-Star 5 appearance for American centre Katie Nolan, but a first for eight weeks as she is joint-fourth among all players. She shot an amazing 12-15 (80%) from the floor and 6-6 from the free-throw line on her way to a WBBL career-high 30 points, completing a double-double with 13 rebounds. Eagles trailed late in the third, but Nolan scored a momentum-inducing ‘and one’ play early in the fourth quarter among 11 key points down the stretch.

Antoinette Lewis – Newcastle Eagles
Another Eagle who features regularly in the weekly team, Antoinette Lewis makes her third appearance in the last five weeks and fourth overall as she moves clear in third among all players in the appearances chart, following that win over Mystics. She also had a double-double, with 22 points and 14 rebounds, including eight offensive boards, along with two assists and a steal, and was everywhere in that decisive fourth quarter with eight points and seven rebounds in the final ten minutes.

Araion Bradshaw – Sevenoaks Suns
Sevenoaks made it seven straight WBBL Championship wins after beating Essex Rebels on Saturday, led once more by American guard Araion Bradshaw as she makes her fifth All-Star 5 appearance, now clear in second for most appearances with a third in four weeks. It was another tenacious rebounding display from the 5’6″ guard as she finished with a double-double of 15 points and 16 boards, handing out five assists and nabbing three steals. The game was won in the run up to half time as Bradshaw scored six in an 11-2 five minute surge, before she opened the second half with a triple that pushed the lead to near twenty.

Jess Wayne – Durham Palatinates
The Molten WBBL Player of the Month for December makes her first All-Star 5 appearance of the campaign amidst Durham’s improvement in form, following Saturday’s win over Oaklands. She scored 21 points in under 27 minutes, shooting 4-9 (44%) from three-point range, with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals, including eight points in the decisive second stanza and another eight in the third as they won the middle two periods 44-25 to set the foundation for the victory.

Off the bench: Samantha Keltos (Manchester Met Mystics), Sune Swart (Essex Rebels), Shaelynne Sanchez Czerniecki (Manchester Met Mystics), Cassidy Gould (Oaklands Wolves), Janice Monakana (Sevenoaks Suns), Grace George (Oaklands Wolves), Andrea Kohlhaas (Essex Rebels).