WBBL Championship
Caledonia Pride 71-55 Gloucester City Queens (16-15, 31-25, 51-40)
(Pride – Ranger 13, James 12, Phillips 11; Queens – Ball 23, Marques 9, Bautista 8)
Caledonia Pride scored a big win in the chase for the WBBL Championship Play-off places as they beat ninth-placed Gloucester City Queens 71-55 for a first home win since October, moving them onto three wins alongside three other teams just outside the Play-off places, including their opponents in this game.
Pride took charge over the first quarter break as they ended on a 9-1 burst and then opened the second stanza with the first five points, Maud Ranger scoring five with Elise Tweedie and Erin McGarrahan four each as the latter made the score 23-15.
Pride led 31-25 at the half after holding their visitors to just 10 points in the second period, while playing a high-pressure defence that generated 16 points from turnovers, more than half of their total to that stage.
However, it was still a one-shot game in the third quarter, until Pride hit the decisive 14-2 surge, sparked by a Ranger three-pointer and followed by an old-fashioned three-point play from Tweedie, with the margin swelling to 47-33 on a Laken James triple.
And Ranger and James made further big shots late in the day, scoring twice each in a 9-0 burst to keep the Queens at arm’s length after they got back to within two shots inside the final four minutes.
Ranger finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, among four starters in double-figure scoring, while Taylor Edwards had four steals for a defence that finished with 31 points from turnovers as Pride also out-rebounded their visitors by a whopping 57-36.