WBBL Championship
Cardiff Met Archers 73-88 Caledonia Pride (10-25, 32-43, 52-64)
(Archers – Saiki 23, Hatch 20, Jorgensen 13; Pride – James 21, Phillips 18, Ranger 16)
WBBL Championship
Durham Palatinates 85-70 Leicester Riders (14-21, 34-39, 61-56)
(Palatinates – Hurtado Barbeito 25, Hendershot 19, Bennett 18; Riders – Lewis 15, Hamilton 12, Lappenkuper 12)
WBBL Championship
Sheffield Hatters 89-74 Essex Rebels (35-16, 50-33, 71-58)
(Hatters – Gayle 18, Horton 15, Naylor 13; Rebels – Munns 18, Costa 17, Waithe 12)
Third-placed Sheffield Hatters put a big dent in Essex Rebels’ top four aspirations on Saturday night, while the WBBL Championship Play-off chase is heating up with big wins for Caledonia Pride and Durham Palatinates earlier in the day.
Hatters beat Rebels 89-74 to make it three straight wins in March, moving to 14-3 and another win clear of Leicester Riders in fourth after they slipped to defeat.
It was the team’s first game since the passing this week of British basketball legend Betty Codona OBE, the founder of the club in 1961, former Head Coach, mother to current play-caller Vanessa Ellis and grandmother to star guard Georgia Gayle and Assistant Coach Tyler Gayle.
Hatters looked determined to honour her legacy from the outset, leading from tip-to-buzzer after hitting an early 13 straight points, five for Gayle before Ebony Horton made it 28-10, and the lead was through 20 at 33-12 when Gayle added an ‘and-one’ play. Hatters poured in 35 points in the first quarter as Horton scored nine and Gayle eight, with the team shooting 15-18 (83%) on the inside and scoring 30 of their first 35 points in the paint in the opening ten minutes.
From there, the teams traded baskets and despite winning both the second and third quarters, the visiting Rebels could get no closer than 11 points as Hatters found a response every time through a variety of players, with nine ending up on the scoresheet and five in double-figures.
There was no way back when Gayle added eight more in a 12-0 burst early in the fourth quarter, making the score 85-62 on her triple, and she finished with 18 points, nine assists, three steals and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Caledonia Pride continued their amazing run with a fifth straight win, strengthening their grip on the eighth and final Play-off spot with an 88-73 road win at Cardiff Met Archers, behind a do-it-all performance from Laken James as she finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, five steals and three assists.
Pride looked like a team in form from the outset as they never trailed in the game, and they hit a 14-2 surge midway through the first period as Sian Phillips scored 10 of her 18 points in a five minute spell to make the score 25-9 as she scored three baskets in a row.
And that lead was maintained until the end, despite the hosts getting back to within two shots in the third quarter, only for Maela Faleu to hit a three-pointer before Maud Ranger scored seven points in a row, among her total of 16, to restore a 62-48 margin and help them improve to a 7-10 record.
Elsewhere, chasing Pride and that last Play-off spot, Durham Palatinates improved to 5-10 in tenth place with a surprise 85-70 home win over fourth-placed Leicester Riders, making it back-to-back victories after a run of four straight defeats.
Riders came into the game with five wins in their last six games, including a big win over Palatinates six weeks ago, and led by as much as 23-14 early in the second stanza.
But Durham fired back from there, as a sign of what was to come, with a 12-2 run as Goretti Hurtado Barbeito scored eight points and gave them the lead at 29-27 on consecutive three-pointers.
There was a run of seven lead changes and seven further ties after that, until Palatinates finished the game on a sensational surge. Tied at 67 with five minutes to play, they allowed their visitors just one more field goal as the game finished 18-3 with Elle Hendershot giving them the lead and scoring seven in that decisive spell.
Hurtado Barbeito led the scoring with five three-point makes among her 25 points, while there were big double-doubles of 18 points and 12 assists for Katie Bennett, and 15 points with 19 rebounds for Jessica Wayne. Durham scored 30 points from turnovers, with Bennett’s six steals proving especially disruptive.