Lions maul Giants, Gladiators defeat Hatters, Eagles snatch victory over Wildcats

London Lions and Caledonia Gladiators both win as race for the title stays close.

Manchester Giants 53-104 London Lions

Starting Fives:

Manchester Giants:  Brooklynn McAlear-Fanus, Georgia Anderson, Hannah Shaw, Leah McDerment, Sydney Hunter

London Lions: Shey Peddy, Savannah Wilkinson, Temi Fágbénlé, Abby Meyers, Karlie Samuelson

London Lions remained unbeaten at the top of the league after comfortably beating Manchester Giants by 51 points.

First Half:

The Giants started on the front foot, scoring the first point of the game, but the Lions soon quickly took hold.

London’s lead grew to 12 points, before the Giants managed to cut the deficit to eight, though a daunting challenge was ahead of them for the remainder of the game.

This was evident in the second quarter as London’s Shanice Beckford-Norton, Megan Gustafson and Karlie Samuelson put on a show in the second quarter.

Their scoring prowess, along with an iron wall of a defence, saw hope fade for the Giants.

At the end of the half, Manchester trailed by 36 points, after scoring only five of their own during the second frame.

Second Half:

The third quarter was the best one yet for the Giants, as they outscored the Lions 21-18. But the Giants were still 33 points behind.

The Lions ran rampant in the final quarter, once more only allowing Manchester to score five points during the frame, as they sealed a convincing victory.

Player of the Game:

The award could have gone to multiple players, but Karlie Samuelson’s all-round performance helped the Lions get the victory, with 16 points scored, three rebounds and three assists.

Team Player Points Rebounds Assists
Manchester Giants Idil Turk 10 0 3
Manchester Giants Brooklynn Mcalear-Fanus 8 4 4
London Lions Megan Gustafson 17 6 0
London Lions Karlie Samuelson 16 3 3

Caledonia Gladiators 69-56 B. Braun Sheffield Hatters

Starting Fives:

Caledonia Gladiators:  Samantha Roscoe, Hannah Robb, Ariadna Pujol, Laken James, Kirsty Brown
B. Braun Sheffield Hatters: Nicolette Fairley, Georgia Gayle, Emma Eichmeyer, Shauna Harrison, Madison Washington

Second-placed Caledonia Gladiators came from behind to win 69-56 against B. Braun Sheffield Hatters to extend their unbeaten run to five games.

First Half:

The game was off to a quick start, as the Gladiators scored first.

The pace of the match then settled down, with the Hatters taking an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

But the Gladiators were not done fighting yet. They took advantage of the Hatters not scoring enough and took the lead.

But with the clock running down, Laken James shot a three-pointer to take give the Hatters’ a one-point lead going in to the break.

Second Half:

Building on the momentum from a positive second quarter, the Gladiators started the second half with a bang.

The Scottish side produced an impressive performance to build out a 14-point advantage and put themselves in pole position for victory.

The Hatters fought back as hard as they could against the Gladiators, but a strong team performance stopped that gap from getting any smaller than 11 points.

Caledonia Gladiators won the game with a 13-point advantage.

Player of the Game:

Sokhna Binton Lo Sylla shone for the Gladiators with her aerial ability, while her presence under the basket was unmatched with 12 points, 13 rebounds and an assist.

Team Player Points Rebounds Assists
Caledonia Gladiators Sokhna Binton Lo Sylla 12 13 1
Caledonia Gladiators Kirsty Brown 13 4 1
Sheffield Hatters Madison Washington 10 10 1
Sheffield Hatters Georgia Gayle 10 6 2

Nottingham Wildcats 66-82 Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles

Starting Fives:

Nottingham Wildcats:  Abbey Whitehouse, Mari Stewart, Jessica Wayne, Brooke Bjelko, Jiselle Havas

Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles: Chloe Gaynor, Marina Fernandez Pardo, Abigail Lowe, Lauren Saiki, Tierra Hodges

Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles‘ new signing Jada Dapaa starred as she helped end the team’s four-game losing streak with a 82-66 win over Nottingham Wildcats.

First Half:

The Wildcats were first on the scoresheet, going 5-0 up. But the lead was short-lived, as Eagles went on a late scoring run in the final quarter to take the early advantage with a five-point lead.

Both teams turned it up another level in the second quarter, but for the Wildcats it was not enough to keep up with Newcastle.

Tierra Hodges and Jada Dapaa helped Eagles extend their lead at the end of the half to a 14-point advantage at the end of the first half.

Second Half:

The Wildcats continued to fight to close the points difference. But they did not have the quality to match Eagles tonight.

Newcastle continued to dominate and extended their lead further by the end of the penultimate quarter to an 18-point advantage.

Even though the Wildcats were down on the scoreboard they still put up a fight, and outscored Eagles in the final quarter to end the game on a positive note for Nottingham.

In the end, the Eagles won 82-66 against The Wildcats as their losing streak came to an end,

Player of the Game:

Eagles’ new signing Jada Dapaa helped her team end their four-game-losing streak with an amazing performance, putting up 20 points scored, five rebounds and an assist.

Team Player Points Rebounds Assists
Nottingham Wildcats Jiselle Havas 25 5 1
Nottingham Wildcats Mari Stewart 14 11 4
Newcastle Eagles Jada Dapaa 20 5 1
Newcastle Eagles Tierra Hodges 19 8 4

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