WBBL Championship
Cardiff Met Archers 68-93 Sevenoaks Suns (18-22, 33-45, 49-65)
(Archers: Hatch, 19; Saiki, 16; Bunyan, 10 – Suns: Busch, 21; Bradshaw, 20; Koppl, 15)
WBBL Championship
Essex Rebels 86-68 Oaklands Wolves (25-17, 40-30, 64-40)
(Rebels: Kohlhaas, 17; Freeman/Haines, 15; Turner, 13 – Wolves: Sarson, 18; George, 16; Smith, 12)
WBBL Championship
Nottingham Wildcats 59-91 Durham Palatinates (10-26, 24-39, 40-79)
(Wildcats: Nicholas, 29; Belsham, 10; Cook, 8 – Palatinates: Ottewill-Soulsby, 23; Hendershot, 21; Brault, 19)
The Sevenoaks Suns secured a comfortable 93-68 victory at Cardiff Met Archers at the Archers Arena on Saturday.
The Suns’ impressive offence was spearheaded by guard Renee Busch, who had an incredible performance, drawing up 21 points, shooting 100% from the field (7/7), including five three-pointers.
High-tempo Suns guard Araion Bradshaw also had an impressive outing, contributing 20 points, four rebounds, and eight assists.
The opening quarter saw both teams trade baskets, with Shannon Hatch leading the way for the Archers, gathering all of Cardiff Met’s first six points in the contest.
However, the Suns replied effectively to Hatch’s effective scoring, finishing the quarter with back-to-back scoring possessions to take a 22-18 lead.
In the second quarter, the Suns began to pull away, with Julia Koppl and Bradshaw combining for impressive baskets.
Cardiff Met struggled to keep up with the Suns’ rampant scoring pace, and Sevenoaks concluded the first half with a convincing 45-33 advantage.
Sevenoaks continued to dominate in the third quarter, with Bradshaw and Janice Monakana executing impressive pass and move plays to maintain their double-figure advantage.
Cardiff Met tried to fight back, but Sevenoaks’ hot shooting from beyond the arc proved too much to handle.
The Suns ended the third period with a commanding 65-49 lead.
Sevenoaks then raced clear with a 15-4 run to start the final period, effectively putting the game out of reach for the Archers.
The Suns continued to pour on the points, with Busch and Bradshaw leading the assault.
Despite a late surge from the Archers, the Suns held on for a comfortable 93-68 victory.
With the win, Sevenoaks Suns improved to 13-6 on the season, while Cardiff Met Archers fell to 7-12.
The Suns will look to continue their winning ways when they take on the Leicester Riders, while the Archers will aim to bounce back against Essex Rebels.
Essex Rebels took down the Oaklands Wolves in an 86-68 victory, as the Rebels heated up from beyond the perimeter.
Essex Rebels took down the Oaklands Wolves in an 86-68 victory, as the Rebels heated up from beyond the perimeter.
Andrea Kohlhaas cleared the way for the Rebels, drawing up 17 points.
The Rebels had a strong start to the game, with strong centre Sune Swart scoring back-to-back buckets, commencing a 6-0 run.
Essex continued to dominate, with a pair of threes extending their lead to 12-4.
Despite the Wolves’ determined defensive play, the Rebels maintained their clinical performance, with Daniela Turner stringing a clean bucket from the edge of the key to keep their lead firm.
Tia Freeman then hit two consecutive triples, ending the first quarter with the Rebels on top, 25-17.
In the second quarter, the Wolves fought back and successfully cut the deficit to single digits, with Grace George’s picturesque three-point conversion igniting the Oaklands determination.
However, a misguided transition pass by the Oaklands attack led to a fast break by the Rebels, resulting in a strong finish by Kohlhaas, putting their lead back up to 40-30 at the half.
Rebels had a strong start to the third quarter, swiftly scoring six points behind Turner and Kohlhaas shots from three-point range.
Oaklands continued to fight back, with Daisy Porter scoring a nice and-one basket, getting by the taller Rebels defender.
Essex, however, ended with a crucial 5-0 run, with Jade Mbam hitting a perfect corner three to take the score to 64-40.
Both teams continued to exchange buckets in a high-scoring final quarter, but the Rebels ultimately held on for an 18-point victory.
Durham Palatinates bounced back from Thursday’s loss with a 91-59 win over the Nottingham Wildcats.
Elle Hendershot was an all-rounder in the Durham win, accumulating 21 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and five steals.
While scoring machine Harriett Ottewill-Soulsby added 23 points, Eliza Brault contributed 19 points from the Palatinates bench in a rebound win following Thursday’s loss to the Leicester Riders.
Not to be outshone, Nottingham’s dominant Kennedy Nicholas had a huge game, finishing with a game-high 29 points and 18 rebounds, despite the defeat.
Nottingham’s Nicholas started the scoring with a quick bucket for the Wildcats, but Durham’s Ella Hendershot answered with a well-executed layup to tie it up.
The game remained close early on, with the score tied at 8-8 after the opening five minutes.
However, Durham soon rocketed ahead with a 13-0 run, led by Harriett Ottewill-Soulsby, who neared double-figure scoring before the first quarter ended.
Nottingham scored a few more points, including another clean layup by Nicholas. Still, Ellie Moran of Durham banked home a three-pointer to give the Palatinates a confident 10-26 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
Hendershot was already closing in on a double-double, with nine points and eight rebounds in the first quarter alone.
She continued her impressive performance in the second quarter, eventually achieving a double-double before halftime, tallying 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Despite Durham’s relentlessness on the offensive boards, the Wildcats forged a 6-0 run midway through the second quarter, with Ciara Belsham pulling off a put-back layup from a tight angle.
Macy Cook then made a crafty and-one move to bring the score to 19-32.
However, Durham continued to create mismatches on offence, leading to Chukwu-Etu getting easy consecutive baskets under the hoop.
Jessica Wayne also displayed impressive hustle, grabbing an offensive board before going back up fiercely, converting to extend Durham’s lead to 17 points.
Cook managed to reply with another triple in the final minute of halftime.
But Durham still held a commanding double-figure lead as the halftime buzzer sounded.
Durham started the third quarter with a quick 2-7 run, which gave them a hefty 20-point lead.
Ottewill Soulsby was especially impressive, bursting down the channels of the court at quick pace to score at will for the visitors.
This was followed by a deep corner three by Brault, bringing Durham’s lead to 51-26.
Wildcats’ Nicholas responded with a pair of driving layups, getting Nottingham back to scoring ways.
But Durham soon regained control of the game, pouring in 14 points in just over three minutes of action.
Ottewill Soulsby continued to tear up the Wildcats’ defence inside the key, helping to catapult the Palatinates to a 30-point cushion at the end of the third quarter.
Nottingham started the final quarter with a better start, scoring five points rapidly behind a Belsham layup and a dagger three-point shot by Valerie Cassidy De Falco.
However, Hendershot and Ottewill Soulsby remained the lethal duo, crippling the Nottingham defenders., proving too much to overcome.
In the end, the final scoreline read 59-91 in favour of Durham, who put on a dominant performance in the second half to secure the victory.