WBBL Championship
Durham Palatinates 71-85 Cardiff Met Archers (20-15, 30-38, 53-58)
(Palatinates: Wayne, 26; Ottewill-Soulsby, 12; Bautista/Hendershot, 8 – Archers: Hatch, 22; Bunyan, 14; Habling, 13)
Betty Codona WBBL Trophy
Manchester Met Mystics 59-90 B. Braun Sheffield Hatters (10-31, 23-49, 46-74)
(Mystics: Keltos, 14; Sanchez Czerniecki, 11; Abbott/Niehues, 10 – Hatters: Gayle, 21; Murphy, 18; Naylor/Shaw, 13)
Leicester Riders 54-44 Caledonia Gladiators (10-12, 27-21, 42-39)
(Riders: Arlen, 17; Squires, 10; Johnston, 9 – Gladiators: Handy, 13; Adams, 11; Thompson, 9)
Essex Rebels 67-68 Newcastle Eagles (13-18, 28-40, 49-55)
(Rebels: Kohlhaas, 20; Haines, 16; Paxton/Turner, 8 – Eagles: Nolan, 22; Fernandez Pardo, 16; Lewis, 14)
Nothing beats a loaded WBBL Saturday, as eight sides battled it out, blessing us with some great games. The day started with a WBBL regular season tie between Durham Palatinates and Cardiff Met Archers in a back-and-forth affair. Later in the afternoon, six sides duelled tremendously as the Betty Codona WBBL Trophy returned for its quarter-final stages.
Cardiff Met Archers are back in winning form after a solid victory on the road against Durham Palatinates, 71-85.
Among Cardiff’s four players to record double-figure scoring, Shannon Hatch emerged the most prolific, notching 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Cardiff chalked the opening two points of the contest courtesy of a swift baseline cut from Abigail Yunker, who was able to finish confidently at the rim.
Moments later, Cardiff floor general Lauren Saiki dished the ball off a pick-and-roll play down to big Mara Marchizotti to finish at the basket.
Durham replied with a smorgasbord of three-pointers, including from Orieoma Chukwu-Etu and Inma Bautista.
Cardiff’s defence began to pay off when Saiki pickpocketing Durham’s offence on back-to-back possessions, leading to scores for Hatch.
Palatinates continued their three-point shooting, hitting two more beyond the arc before the buzzer sounded.
Cardiff came out strong in the second period, with Saiki proving a nightmare for Durham defensively – drawing charges and setting the tone for her team.
The Archers mirrored Durham’s damaging three-point scoring, as Isobel Bunyan put away a handful of long-ranged efforts.
With around three minutes left in the first half, Durham looked to Jessica Wayne to keep their winning chances alive – Wayne tallied 10 points and four assists before halftime.
A third triple for Bunyan and a corner dagger from teammate Lara Habling put the visitors slightly ahead, 30-38.
Wayne’s scoring continued into the second half with a quick three-pointer.
Durham’s attacking intensity blossomed, with Katie Bennett battling fiercely to secure an offensive rebound and put back a right-sided layup.
Cardiff didn’t let off the accelerator, with a 5-0 run allowing them to carve out a double-figure advantage.
In a spirited comeback, the Palatinates used an array of scoring options to reduce Cardiff’s lead, starting with a Bautista triple from the top of the perimeter.
Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby located Elle Hendershot inside after a strong seal to provide Durham another vital two points.
Another energetic offensive rebound and putback for Bennett minimised Cardiff’s lead to just four in the blink of an eye.
But, with a pair of threes from Saiki and Bunyan, Cardiff held on to the lead heading into the fourth quarter, 53-58.
The competitive excitement continued into the final frame, with Wayne getting her points total up to 20 at the free throw line.
A back-and-forth of midrange jumpers followed, with both teams hungry to take home the win.
Cardiff scored on three consecutive possessions, and an uncontested three-point shot for Habling capped off the Archers’ stellar shooting streak. Cardiff returned to a double-figure advantage.
Ottewill-Soulsby turned up the heat inside for the home side, but it was not enough to propel Durham into the lead.
With the win secured for Cardiff, they put an end to their six-game winless run, and returned to winning ways. Durham fall to 3-7.
View the full WBBL Championship standings HERE.
The B Braun Sheffield Hatters secured qualification to the semi-finals of the Betty Codona WBBL Trophy with a 59-90 victory away to Manchester Met Mystics.
Helping advance the Hatters through to the next round, Georgia Gayle finished with 21 points – without a miss from two-point range – while also adding six rebounds and six assists.
Forward Karly Murphy accumulated 18 points to go along with 14 rebounds.
The Hatters started strong, with Gayle getting off the mark with a three-point shot.
Murphy made her presence felt early, under the basket and from mid-range.
The Mystics responded with a triple from Claire Abbott and a mid-range jumpshot from Leah McDerment, but the Hatters still pulled away.
With young hopefuls Charli Wroe and Abbey Whitehouse combining for back-to-back scores, the Hatters rounded off an excellent first quarter performance, ahead 10-31.
Gayle drained more three-pointers during the second quarter, as the Hatters extended their lead.
A skilful drive and finish by Whitehouse wowed the Hatters bench, extending their lead up to 21.
Manchester’s Abby Nieheus battled valiantly inside, getting an and-one play to go past Sheffield’s defence.
Sheffield remained in control at the halftime whistle, ahead 23-49.
The third quarter saw Sheffield extend their lead further, with Helen Naylor and Nicolette Fairley putting on a show, combining for 12 points on consecutive possessions.
The Mystics fought back with back-to-back threes from Shaelynne Sanchez Czerniecki, and closed out a 23-point quarter.
Heading into the final quarter with a 46-74 advantage, Sheffield were able to field all 10 active players to get a taste of Trophy action.
Mystics continued their strong shooting behind Samantha Keltos – Manchester’s leading scorer.
With that win, the Hatters punched their ticket to the Betty Codona Trophy semi-finals, and will face the London Lions.
On the other half of the Trophy bracket, Leicester Riders took the victory in a close encounter against Caledonia Gladiators, 54-44.
Leading the way for the Riders was Ashley Arlen, finishing with a game-high 17 points, putting away 9/10 from the free-throw line, adding eight rebounds.
Arlen got started scoring early, knocking a pair of free-throw shots as well as a deep three-pointer.
Caledonia looked to Tea Adams, who opened the away side’s scoring with a tough layup, before converting a nice and-one play.
Chantelle Handy’s three-pointer with four minutes remaining put the Gladiators ahead.
But, a determined Mackenzie Johnston hit two clutch jumpshots in the closing minutes to even up the scores.
Jamilla Thompson scored layup off a strong offensive rebound to put the visitors up by a hair, 10-12.
The second quarter saw the Riders flourish, outsourcing the Gladiators 17 to nine.
Though Adams emerged again for the Scottish side, the Riders were eager to reply.
Continuing to be a physical matchup, Caledonia found themselves in foul trouble, leaving Leicester to mount a big comeback.
Down by a single point, Riders guard Oliana Squires drained a triple before Jessica Eadsforth-Yates’ layup flipped the game on its head.
Riders added five more points to cap off the first half, while successfully keeping the Gladiators to zero points in the closing stages.
Gladiators arrived out of halftime with a vengeance, amassing a respectable 7-0 lead to start the third quarter.
Handy and Adams briefly reclaimed the lead for the Gladiators, but the Riders replied through Arlen and Squires.
Leicester produced a 5-0 run behind Johnston’s pull-up jumpshot to extend the host’s advantage into double figures.
Caledonia fought valiantly to notch the final seven points of the period, but remained slightly behind, 42-39.
Leicester secured a semi-final spot with a fantastic final quarter, holding the Gladiators to five points.
Emma Fee’s defensive pressure, including two steals, played a big part in Leicester’s competent final quarter play.
With Caledonia unable to score past Leicester’s pressuring defence, the Riders held out to win it, 54-44.
Facing the Riders in the semi-finals will be the Newcastle Eagles after a thrilling win over the Essex Rebels, 67-68.
One of two Eagles to finish with a double-double, forward Katie Nolan recorded 22 points, 16 boards, and three assists to finish a gripping final-minute comeback.
Rebels guard Megan Haines and Eagles forward Antoinette Lewis scored their respective team’s opening points.
With eight lead changes in the opening quarter, Newcastle finished the first qu slightly ahead after a 6-0 run made it 13-18.
Newcastle pulled away in the second period, with Maggie Justinak’s confident triple giving the Eagles a double figure lead.
With four minutes remaining in the half, Newcastle went on a scoring rampage, including successive threes from sharpshooter Marina Fernandez Pardo.
Justinak added another layup to put the Eagles up by 20 points.
Essex replied late in the second frame, starting with a Jade Mbam layup before Haines’ converted two deep three-pointers.
Even with Haines’ hot hands, the Rebels found themselves trailing to the Eagles at the break, 28-40.
With 18 second half points, all coming off three-point efforts, Andrea Kohlhaas lifted the Essex Rebels to within reach of the win.
Rebels centre Sune Swart swatted a shot to start the third quarter, which led to the first of Kohlhaas six threes.
Newcastle were able to keep a lid on Essex’s mounting attack with Fernandez Pardo and Nolan doubling up to get vital buckets.
But Essex finished with a 5-0 stretch, and Newcastle’s double-figure lead was reduced to six heading into the final quarter.
Newcastle held their nerves as Nolan converted a strong layup after a stealthy Chloe Gaynor steal.
Kohlhaas put away another three-pointer to kickstart Essex’s final quarter scoring as the Rebels put together a 9-0 scoring run.
Another Kohlhaas triple with four minutes to play put the Rebels ahead 61-59 – their first lead since the opening quarter.
Nolan and Lewis came up big to keep the Eagles in the game, and prevented Kohlhaas from adding more points to her tally.
With less than a minute to go, and the Rebels with a slim three-point lead, the Eagles looked for any way to reclaim the advantage.
Fernandez Pardo received the ball at the top of the perimeter, but came just short of the basket.
Nolan collected the offensive rebound, before slotting away a layup to make it a one-point ball game, 42 seconds left to play.
With Rebels in control of the ball, and time winding down, the Eagles needed to win the ball back to score.
A nice backdoor cut from Essex’s Tia Freeman opened up a scoring opportunity, but Nolan contested the shot well, and the Eagles got the defensive rebound.
With 20 seconds remaining, Fernandez Pardo found Gaynor on the Eagles’ wing, and she put away a clutch mid-range shot to take back the lead for Newcastle, finishing victorious.
The competition will continue between Newcastle Eagles and the Leicester Riders in the semi-finals.
Always keep up-to-date with all WBBL news and highlights by clicking HERE.