WBBL Championship
Sevenoaks Suns 82-67 Newcastle Eagles (25-19, 49-36, 66-45)
(Suns – Monakana 29, Bradshaw 14, Koppl 13; Eagles – Lewis 24, Nolan 18, Fernandez Pardo 13)

WBBL Championship
Essex Rebels 64-67 Cardiff Met Archers (16-15, 30-37, 49-53)
(Rebels – Munns 18, Freeman 15, Swart 10; Archers – Bunyan 21, Saiki 16, Hatch 12)

WBBL Championship
Leicester Riders 58-74 London Lions (17-21, 25-35, 33-51)
(Riders – Arlen 23, Squires 17, Johnston 6; Lions – Herbert Harrigan 13, Leonard 11, Beckford-Norton 10, Stewart 10)

WBBL Championship
Sheffield Hatters 110-29 Oakland Wolves (26-8, 59-12, 83-19)
(Hatters – Hampton-Bey 15, Shaw 14, Murphy 13; Wolves – D. Porter 7, Lewis-Gayle 6, R. Porter 5)

WBBL Championship
Nottingham Wildcats 71-67 Manchester Met Mystics (17-17, 32-42, 53-58)
(Wildcats – Nicolas 16, Stewart 13, Whittington 13; Mystics – Abbott 17, Mcderment 13, Keltos 10)

In a day filled with WBBL action, Sevenoaks Suns and Newcastle Eagles kicked off the action in the early tip-off with the highest scoring game of the day, dominated by offence – particularly in the first quarter when they exchanged baskets throughout. Suns eventually managed to pull away and led at the end of the first 10 minutes by six points (25-19).

Sevenoaks often played a full court press, resulting in nine steals in the first half and 15 fast break points. Despite Newcastle trying their best to close the deficit – led by Katie Nolan who had a double-double in the first half with 10 points and 11 rebounds (18 points and 21 rebounds total) – Sevenoaks managed to lead by as many as 14 points halfway through the second quarter (47-33).

Both teams also saw competitive debuts for their new signings, with Dazha Congleton playing her first game for Sevenoaks and Antoinette Lewis for Newcastle. Lewis almost had a double-double in the first half, with 10 points and nine rebounds.

The second half started in a very different way to the first, with defences firmly on top. Sevenoaks continued their press and made life very difficult for Newcastle, with seven steals in the quarter (20 total in the whole game). Araion Bradshaw was the team’s defensive engine, with seven steals personally – on her home debut no less.

During the fourth quarter Suns didn’t take their foot off the pedal, going up by as many as 24 points (79-55), after Bradshaw stripped Nolan and Congleton scored on the fast break. Janice Monakana – who had to be convinced not to retire at the end of last season – led Suns with 29 points, while new signing Lewis was very impressive for the Geordies on her debut with 24 points.

Three matches which all tipped off at 4pm then followed, with Essex Rebels vs Cardiff Met Archers being the tightest of the three. The first quarter was very evenly matched, with both teams exchanging baskets and neither having a lead larger than five points.

The second quarter was much of the same, with one key difference – instead of having multiple lead changes, Cardiff managed to stay ahead the during the entire period, playing tenacious defence and getting nine steals in total throughout the half, compared to zero from Essex.

Every time Rebels managed to get within a point or two, Archers would always successfully pull away, led by their top scorer Isabel Bunyan, who was the only person with double digits in the first half with 14 points.

The second half continued from where the two teams had left off, with both sides evenly matched but Cardiff being in control of the game, going up by as many as 11 points (36-47). The Welsh side took very good care of the ball and had only turned it over four times in the first 30 minutes, not allowing their opponents to make a single steal.

Essex however had not given up and led by Ashleigh Munns who had made 4/5 3-pointers so far in the game, they managed to stay close and finish the third period only four points down (49-53).

The fourth quarter wasn’t going to be any different, with both sides giving it their all to secure the W. Archers managed to go back up by eight (49-57), but once again – as they had done all game – Rebels fought back and made it a two-point game with five minutes to go. The next three minutes carried on much the same way. Essex’s MVP Munns continued her hot hand and made three free throws after getting fouled on the 3-point attempt, managing to bring the deficit back down to two points with two minutes left (62-64).

The home side played excellent defence and managed to get a couple of stops, but were unable to take the lead, missing a number of crucial shots in crunch time.

With 21 seconds left in the game and the ball in their possession from out of bounds, Essex turned it over after great defence from Cardiff, throwing away a golden opportunity to take the lead.

That’s when it turned into a free-throw match, with both teams fouling each other – with Essex trying to stop the clock and Cardiff trying to prevent Rebels making a 3-pointer – as the difference was three points. Ultimately, Archers’ MVP Bunyan, who scored 21 points, managed to make both free throws with three seconds left and secured her team’s second dub of the season in a very tightly contested match.

The other two 4pm tip-offs were more of a one-sided affair. Leicester Riders and London Lions were neck and neck in the first quarter, in what was shaping up to be another tight game.

However, in the second period, the Londoners played fantastic defence and only allowed the home team to score eight points, leading by 10 points at the half (25-35).

Despite Ashley Arlen doing whatever she could to help her team get the W – with 23 points in 37 minutes – Riders were once again held to just eight points in the third quarter, allowing Lions to take an 18-point lead going into the final 10 minutes (33-51).

The fourth quarter proved to be Leicester’s best period, outscoring their opponents 25-23. Ultimately however, the lead that London had worked so hard for throughout the game meant that they were never truly in fear of losing and managed to secure a dominant W in a tough away game, giving Riders their first loss of the season after winning their first two matches.

In the third of the three 4pm matches, Sheffield Hatters comfortably beat an Oakland Wolves team still without its senior players – with their academy players fighting valiantly, but not managing to trouble their opponents. The home side made their intentions clear from the get-go, storming ahead at the end of the first quarter 26-8.

They brought the same intensity into the second period, scoring a game high of 33 points and keeping their opponents to a game low of four, going into the break ahead 59-12.

Despite Cleo Lewis-Gayle being faultless in her shooting from the field with 3/3, Hatters continued their strong showing and dominated the second half too, scoring 24 and 27 points respectively.

Despite the tough loss, Oakland’s players showed hustle and should be proud of their efforts, gaining very valuable experience that will only help in their development.

The final match of the day saw another tight contest, with Nottingham Wildcats managing to overturn a double digit deficit in the second half to get a massive W against Manchester Met Mystics.

The first quarter was the definition of an even match, with neither team managing to gain control of the game, with constant lead changes and baskets on either side. Nothing makes the balance of the first 10 minutes more evident than the fact that the largest gap between the two teams was three points (0-3) – with the first basket of the game.

The second period was a different ball game, with Manchester asserting their control over the game and gradually increasing their lead as the quarter progressed.

Led by Claire Abbot who was the game’s only player with double digits points in the first half, the Mancunians moved the ball well and managed to get plenty of open looks, perfectly illustrated by their 41% shooting from behind the arc.

Josephine Vourliotas was another standout performer in the first half, scoring nine points with 100% shooting, 4/4 2-pointers and 1/1 free throw.

The start of the second half saw the visitors get their largest lead of the match of 12 (36-48), but that’s when everything started to change. Led by their tough defence and energy, Notts scored a game high 21 points, halving the half-time deficit.

As the final period progressed, the Wildcat comeback was gaining more and more momentum and with four minutes to go, Nottingham made two back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 64 apiece. In both situations, Marl Stewart was the provider, first on a back-door pass to Imani Whittington, before assisting Kennedy Nicolas on the very next play.

A massive 3-pointer from Jahnae Gyles – who continued shooting despite her low percentage from the field – helped put her team up by two points (67-65) with three-and-a-half minutes left to play. And just like the London buses that take a long time to come but then come together, Gyles hit another long range 3 on the very next possession, giving her team a five-point advantage 70-65 with less than three minutes left to play.

The final couple of minutes were full of tension but Nottingham managed to hold on to a fantastic comeback victory, that gives them their first win of the season, after a tight loss to Newcastle Eagles last week.