There’s an unfamiliar feel to the latest WBBL All-Star 5, with three debuts and all the players coming from teams between eighth and twelfth in the table as the race for the Play-offs heats up, with two North East rivals well in contention as Newcastle Eagles have a pair of representatives and Durham Palatinates have another in the form of the only All-Star 5 regular this week.
Chloe Gaynor – Newcastle Eagles
Newcastle Eagles won a big North East derby over Durham Palatinates at the Vertu Motors Arena on Sunday, making it back-to-back wins and now just one victory behind the Play-off spots, as Great Britain U20 international forward Chloe Gaynor played all 40 minutes to make her first All-Star 5 appearance of the season. She had a massive double-double, scoring a game-high 22 points and grabbing 15 rebounds, with four assists and two blocks, proving a handful all game as she shot 6-8 (75%) at the free-throw line. Eagles led from tip-to-buzzer as Gaynor scored nine points with five rebounds in the first quarter.
Elle Hendershot – Durham Palatinates
Prior to that defeat, Durham secured two wins in the week and are level with the final post-season position on eight wins, as Elle Hendershot makes her sixth appearance of the season in the weekly team, joint-third among all players, and her third in four weeks as Durham had five straight wins before Sunday. In a home triumph over Oaklands Wolves in midweek she had a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 9-13 (69%) on the inside and 7-10 (70%) at the free-throw line. She was a consistent threat throughout as Durham won all four quarters, scoring 20 second chance points in the game with eight of those coming directly from her five offensive boards.
Praise Egharevba – Nottingham Wildcats
Currently occupying the eighth and final Play-off spot, Nottingham beat Oaklands for a first win in three, as Praise Egharevba posted a monstrous double-double to make her third All-Star 5 appearance, but first for seven weeks. She put up 21 points and snatched 20 rebounds in just 25 minutes of action as Wildcats had to come from behind late on. She checked in with five minutes to play as her team trailed and had four points and four rebounds in a 16-6 finish. Ten of her rebounds came at the offensive end, leading directly to 12 of Nottingham’s 20 second chance points, seven of which she scored herself.
Shannon Hatch – Cardiff Met Archers
Archers, in twelfth in the WBBL Championship and mathematically out of the Play-off race, did score a first win in nine games by beating Gloucester City Queens to leapfrog them off the bottom of the table, leading to a first All-Star 5 showing of the campaign for captain Shannon Hatch. She also had a double-double of 20 points, on 9-11 (81%) interior shooting, and 10 rebounds, with four points and three rebounds in a first quarter that they won by double-figures, including the go-ahead basket as they led from that point onwards, before scoring 10 in a third period that they won 30-13 for their second biggest win of the season.
Layne Murphy – Newcastle Eagles
In Newcastle’s other win of the weekend, against Gloucester City Queens, experienced American forward Layne Murphy turned in her first of two big performances in three days to feature in the All-Star 5 for the first time this season. She was effective at both ends in putting up a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, along with four assists and four steals. Checking back in with four minutes to play in the first, she scored the go-ahead basket in a 14-0 surge that put Newcastle in front for good, before scoring six in the second stanza as Eagles established a big advantage by the half.
Off the bench: Katie Bennett (Durham Palatinates), Sian Phillips (Caledonia Pride), Lauren Saiki (Cardiff Met Archers), Cat Carr (Sevenoaks Suns), Lucrezia Costa (Essex Rebels), Oceana Hamilton (Leicester Riders), Holly Winterburn (London Lions).