Essex Rebels 70-79 Leicester Riders
Rebels Starting Five: Claire Paxton, Renee Busch, Kat Tudor, Megan Haines, Darcy Kay Rees.
Riders Starting Five: Taylor O’Brien, Katie Januszewska, Jessica Eadsforth-Yates, Rayven Peeples, Samantha Ashby.
Leicester Riders held out in a closely-fought battle on the road, beating Essex Rebels 70-79 to leap into the top spot in the Women’s British Basketball League table.
Rayven Peeples claimed a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds to help keep Essex at bay throughout the game, as Taylor O’Brien contributed with 20 points and five rebounds of her own.
Impressive scoring performances from Kat Tudor and Megan Haines couldn’t reel the visitors in enough, falling short in the final quarter.
Women’s League Player of the Month, O’Brien split the pair at the line to open the scoring in the game and put Leicester ahead, before Claire Paxton laid in the fast break bucket in response against her former side.
Samantha Ashby put the Riders up by four with the triple, which was immediately cancelled out by Paxton with her second make of the game – this time from deep.
Five straight points from Kat Tudor reined Leicester in after a mini run of scoring, driving through the heart of the defence, and following up with a three on the angle.
Ashby continued to have her way on the scoreboard with nine-personal after seven minutes of play, but Essex had found their range as Haines drilled another three.
The sides traded scores until the close of the period. Dayzsha Rogan couldn’t get the open layup to drop for the hosts, Leicester corralled the boards and went into the first break 21-19 up.
Jess Eadsforth-Yates opened the second with the corner three, and the quick scoring pace continued into the second as the sides couldn’t be split by more than five points.
The aggressiveness ramped up with both sides finding ways to the free-throw line as the field goal shooting slowed down. Haines moved to 12 points following a crossover over and finish through traffic that earned her an and-one.
Shahd Abboud got the tough lefty finish to drop to maintain the slender Leicester lead, but they couldn’t shake the Rebels who kept plays alive with their offensive rebounding and piled on the points from the charity stripe.
Tudor tied the game at 35-apiece with the three-ball, before Riders piled on seven unanswered points through Erin Powell and Abboud with five-straight of her own. Just as the rest of the game, Rebels fought their way back and trailed Leicester 39-42 after an exciting half.
Haines continued to be a catalyst for Essex at the start of the second half, driving inside once more for a simple two. Riders didn’t fret and Katie Januszewska chased her own missed for the simple lay-in.
Rayven Peeples started to heat up with back to back baskets, but couldn’t stretch Riders out of sight as Tudor came up with a big three in retaliation.
Tudor reached the 20-point mark with the sweet floater in the paint. Darcy Kay Rees was proving to be a menace on the boards, chasing down misses and finishing around the low block. Ashley Cookson called an Essex timeout following another finish from Peeples gave Leicester a seven-point lead with a couple of minutes left in the third.
Januszevska pulled in her own miss again for a finish, and Renee Busch’s pull-up jumper closed the gap to three heading into the fourth.
Rebels showed resolute defence early in the final period, stifling Riders’ attempts in the opening two minutes. Up stepped O’Brien who used a double-screen before converting on the turnaround jump shot in the key.
Once more, it was foul shots that kept the hosts in the game, as Tia Freeman brought the Rebels within a point. O’Brien continued with the hot hand, piling on three more points in another Leicester scoring run.
Riders found their rhythm and extended to their biggest lead of eight points after a threaded feed from McKenzie Johnston found Peeples open under the rim. Tudor didn’t let the Rebels back down, notching another triple to take her total to 23 – her third three of the game.
Rebels threatened to come back late on by cutting the deficit to four, but Leicester remained composed and saw out a nine-point win of 79-70 from the free-throw line.
Player of the Game
Rayven Peeples’ impressive double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds helped Riders stay ahead of Rebels throughout the second half, posing multiple problems with her points in the paint and glass crashing.
| Team | Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Leicester riders | Rayven Peeples | 17 | 11 | 1 |
| Leicester riders | Taylor O’Brien | 20 | 5 | 3 |
| Essex Rebels | Kat Tudor | 23 | 9 | 1 |
| Essex Rebels | Megan Haines | 16 | 4 | 6 |
Newcastle Eagles 93-64 Cardiff Met Archers
Eagles Starting Five: Marina Fernandez Pardo, Abby Lowe, Lauren Saiki, Tierra Hodges, Katie Nolan.
Archers Starting Five: Abigail Yunker, Laura Shanahan, Mandi Kawaha, Jenna Hoschouer, Haylee Saurette.
Newcastle Eagles romped to victory against Cardiff Met Archers, establishing a stranglehold in the game from late in the second period to secure a 93-64 win.
Cardiff Met Archers were still looking for their first win in League play, visiting a Newcastle Eagles side who picked up an important win over North East rivals, Durham Palatinates in their last game.
Lauren Saiki opened the scoring for Newcastle, draining the jump shot from the elbow before Katie Nolan grabbed the offensive board and laid in for two.
Despite the height mismatches between the sides, the undersized Archers started the game off with multiple rebounds after their misses. Haylee Saurette and Jenna Hoschouer capitalised on a couple of these with a pair of baskets to tie the game at four-all.
The sides took turns to score, as Cardiff Met kept finding open opportunities to put the ball in the basket. Abby Lowe got the friendly roll on the tough lay-up, before Tierra Hodges rebounded a couple of her own misses and getting the put-back to go.
Hoschouer got to the line and put the Archers ahead by one at 14-13, but Marina Fernandez Pardo instantly responded with a wide open three. Solene Lemoigne checked into the game for Cardiff and finished the transition lay-in through contact to tie the scores again.
Eagles reestablished control with a three from Zoe Willis and led 19-16 after one.
Hoschouer opened the second with the make off the turnaround, before Fernandez Pardo sliced through the defence to lay in and convert the three-point play at the line.
Courtney Clasen and Hodges stretched the Newcastle lead out to five points; Clasen finished a reverse lay-up under the basket, before Hodges stepped outside the arc and rippled the net.
Newcastle slowly took a grasp of the game as Hodges pushed past double-figure with some good post-up play. On the following possession former Archer, Saiki took the ball inside, finished, and made the extra attempt.
Cardiff struggled from three-point range, missing their first eight attempts. Newcastle took advantage and pushed the floor in transition to give them a 36-26 lead with three minutes left in the half.
Mandi Kawaha used some trickery on the baseline to get the open finish off the glass, before a pair of layups pushed the Eagles out to a 42-30 lead at halftime.
It was a sloppier start to second half proceedings as both sides gave up multiple unforced turnovers. Saiki found Lowe off the inbound and Newcastle got the first score in the third with a simple lay-up.
Saurette reached her double-double early in the third, with one of only two Cardiff buckets in the first five minutes of the quarter.
Newcastle furthered their advantage, making it a 16 point game after Hodges drained another shot from deep and Lowe added a long two to follow up. They continued to have it all their own way, breaking down the Cardiff defence with ease.
The front court duo of Hodges and Nolan wreaked havoc against the visitors, and the game started to slip away from the Archers as Newcastle took their lead above 20.
Cardiff put a late run together in the closing stages of the period, but the Eagles went into the fourth with a handsome 19 point lead.
Newcastle took total control of the game and went 25 points ahead through threes from Willis and Lowe.
Despite not featuring in the last Eagles outing, Sarah Birkett made her return to action with a three from the corner. The triples kept falling for the home side.
The lights were being shot out at the Vertu Motors Arena as Lowe and Hodges kept drilling makes from outside. Archers had no answer as they struggled to find the target. Newcastle saw out the rest of the game comfortably, winning 93-64.
Player of the Game
Tierra Hodges picks up today’s player of the game with a dominant performance both inside and out seeing her finish with a double-double of 27 points and 10 rebounds.
| Team | Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Newcastle Eagles | Tierra Hodges | 27 | 10 | 1 |
| Newcastle Eagles | Abby Lowe | 17 | 5 | 6 |
| Cardiff Met Archers | Haylee Saurette | 26 | 14 | 0 |
| Cardiff Met Archers | Jenna Hoschouer | 13 | 4 | 7 |