WBBL Championship
Durham Palatinates 69 – 67 Caledonia Gladiators (23-16, 30-31, 56-51)
(Palatinates: Ottewill-Soulsby, 28; Wayne, 13; Bautista/Hendershot, 8 – Gladiators: Wolf, 20; McGarrachan, 18; Elias, 10)
Cardiff Met Archers 69 – 75 Nottingham Wildcats (19-16, 40-42, 52-58)
(Archers: Hatch, 21; Yunker, 13; Saiki, 10 – Wildcats: Shaw, 22; Stewart, 17; Whittington, 11)
Leicester Riders 84 – 64 Sheffield Hatters (28-13, 58-27, 72-48)
(Riders: Arlen, 22; Robb, 19; Brown/O’Dwyer, 8 – Hatters: Murphy, 22; Gayle, 16; Shaw, 9)
Newcastle Eagles 43 – 123 London Lions (6-38, 19-69, 33-95)
(Eagles: Nolan, 18; Lewis, 16; Justinak, 5 – Lions: Beckford-Norton, 25; Winterburn, 19; Herbert Harrigan/Vorpahi, 13)
Durham Palatinates recorded their second win of the season with an impressive 69-67 victory over an in-form Caledonia Gladiators squad.
Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby dominated inside for the Palatinates, recording 28 points and six rebounds, while also going perfect from three-point range (3/3).
Teammate Elle Hendershot was active on all areas of the court, pulling down 10 rebounds, while adding six assists, and four steals on Durham’s way to upset Caledonia.
The early stages of the game witnessed a great battle between Ottewill-Soulsby and Gladiators’ impressive Abbie Wolf. Wolf started the better inside, forcing Ottewill-Soulsby to operate from outside the key to get her points on the board.
Durham, however, were shooting confidently from beyond the arc, nailing four on their way to taking the opening quarter 23-16.
Caledonia’s fortunes changed in the second period, with four quick points courtesy of Chantelle Handy and Zoe Sharpe putting the visitors within three points of taking the lead.
Gladiators continued to run riot, disrupting the Durham attack with Tea Adams pickpocketing the ball and converting gracefully at the rim.
Jessica Wayne, who drained two triples in the first quarter, expanded her shooting clinic to the interior, getting important layups to fall, protecting Durham’s advantage.
Heading into the halftime break, Durham led by a slim two points.
Wolf continued to operate well inside for the Gladiators, drawing fouls on a handful of great post moves.
For Durham, they continued to make use of their shooting talent as Inma Bautista found herself wide-open to notch back-to-back three pointers to edge out slightly.
A surge in Caledonia’s offensive hustle culminated in Handy providing the trailing side their first triple of the game as they looked to hit back.
But an 11-0 run propelled Durham into a double-digit lead for the first time in the game.
Caledonia responded valiantly, with Erin McGarrachan slashing to the basket continuously to set up scoring opportunities – including a decisive baseline reverse layup to suddenly bring the game back to within two points.
However, a Wayne dagger three-pointer to beat the buzzer provided Durham a five-point cushion heading into the final frame.
The fourth quarter witnessed a great contest as both teams fought hard to secure the lead.
McGarrachan and Wolf continued to operate well inside the key, while Durham responded with some shifty moves from Bautista to free up space for an elbow jump shot.
Two vital buckets made by McGarrachan and Wolf down the stretch tied up the ball game – with a crucial McGarrachan layup putting Caledonia ahead.
A clinical pick and roll play from Durham saw Ottewill-Soulsby on the receiving end to complete the play with a crisp layup.
On the very next Durham possession, Ottewill-Soulsby put away a deep three-pointer to take back the lead for the Palatinates.
With under a minute to go, Handy hit a triple to keep the contest neck and neck.
But, Ottewill-Soulsby struck again, knocking down a well-worked layup from the low block to give Durham the lead once again.
With some lockdown defence from Durham and a vital pass deflection by Orieoma Chukwu-Etu, Durham were able to see out the final seconds to secure a fantastic win.
Durham improve to 2-5 as they will look to climb the standings in the coming weeks.
For Caledonia, they suffer only their second defeat of the season after winning their past three contests.
In the second WBBL contest of the day, the Nottingham Wildcats came up with a solid 69-75 win on the road to Cardiff Met Archers.
One of three Wildcats players in double digit scoring, Mari Stewart went off for 17 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.
Kayla Shaw was also critical to the Wildcats win, as she poured in 22 points, with four triples – her third straight contest scoring 20 or more.
A thrilling matchup, Cardiff Met started strong, as the home crowd rallied behind floor general Lauren Saiki who set the tone, forcing Nottingham turnovers and making plays on the attacking front.
Montana State commit Isobel Bunyan anchored down the Cardiff Met defence, drawing two early blocks on her way to six rejections cumulatively.
Not just an alert and astute defender, Bunyan provided back-to-back buckets to push the Archers out ahead in the opening minutes.
Finding their feet, with a great pass and cut play by Brahe Ashton and Stewart got the Wildcats on the scoresheet.
Picking up momentum quickly, the visiting Wildcats began a 9-2 run to get the game on level terms with Imani Whittington and Jahnae Gyles doing a great job of converting defence to offence.
Concluding the first quarter, despite lockdown Cardiff Met defence, Stewart successfully got a hook shot to drop to beat the buzzer.
Though trailing, Nottingham came into the second quarter fired up.
Archers continued to make great plays to free up scorers, with Saiki finding Lara Habling along the baseline who finished confidently at the basket for a layup.
Saiki then danced her way past multiple Nottingham players finishing in dazzling fashion at the basket.
But with Shaw providing a quick spree of buckets, the Wildcats moved ahead 40-42, heading into halftime.
Cardiff Met opened the second with a quick jump shot from Shannon Hatch, before Whittington immediately responded with an and-one layup.
Shaw’s smooth jump shot followed for a well-executed three-pointer, which placed the visitors in reach of a double figure lead.
Opening the fourth quarter scoring, an Ashton three-pointer spurred the Wildcats on to a 10-point lead midway through.
Cardiff Met were successful in getting layups to drop but Shaw’s wonderful shooting range gave Nottingham a continuous edge as time expired.
With the win, Nottingham improved to three wins on the season.
For Cardiff Met, they suffered their sixth defeat as both teams continue to joust for playoff positions.
Leicester Riders delivered a big 84-64 win over Sheffield Hatters, as they edge closer to the top spot in the standings.
With an exceptional all-round performance, Riders guard Hannah Robb topped the victorious side with 19 points and 10 rebounds marking her first double-double of the season.
Sharpshooter Ashley Arlen also provided 22 points, making it her fourth game of the season finishing with at least 20 points.
Despite a heavy victory for the hosts, Hatters forward Karly Murphy battled endlessly inside and was a force on the defensive boards, chalking up 22 points and 16 rebounds without conceding a turnover.
Leicester’s performance derived principally from the opening quarter, as the hosts went 7-from-8 from three-point land in the opening quarter.
With Arlen, Robb, and Oliana Squires all getting it to fall from way out, the Riders got off to a 12-0 start.
Hatters worked hard to get back into the game, despite the excellent shooting of Leicester, starting with a three-point shot of her own for Murphy.
Soon afterwards, Georgina Gayle bounded down the middle of the court, getting a precise floater to fall.
Murphy then got another triple to go, after a convincing jab step had her defender lost and unbalanced.
Riders remained undeterred, however, with Mckenzie Johnston and Jessica Eadsforth-Yates bonding well in the halfcourt to provide each other with back-to-back scores.
With five different Riders players hitting threes in the first quarter, it was to be an uphill battle for the Hatters to forge a comeback.
Arlen was exemplary to start the second quarter as she tallied Leicester’s first nine points.
Topping off a great scoring spree for Leicester, Robb managed to draw contact while converting a tough three-point shot, completing a four-point play as the Riders boasted a fierce first half performance.
A 6-0 run early on in the third quarter marked a stronger stint by the Hatters as Murphy continued to operate well inside.
Hatters controlled Riders prolific three-point scoring, forcing Leicester into producing points from hotly-contested inside shots and layups.
Despite a stronger second half with Hatters winning the third and fourth quarter in points scored, Leicester’s crushing first half performance was enough to outlast the Hatters comeback efforts.
With the win, Leicester Riders notch eight victories on the season as they jump ahead of Hatters in the standings for second place.
London Lions produced an immense 43-123 victory on the road to Newcastle Eagles, marking their eighth straight win in the 2022-23 campaign as well as their biggest score in club history.
Lions extended their undefeated record with seven players registering double figure scoring.
Providing an efficient 25 points from the bench, Shanice Beckford-Norton led all scorers.
Lions got off to a hot start, scoring 16 points before Newcastle could log a field goal.
As well as effective scoring and great unselfish passing from London, stealthy guard Taylor Murray caused havoc for the Eagles attempting to bring the ball up the court.
Murray harassed Newcastle’s ball handlers tremendously, forcing nine first quarter turnovers and igniting the Lions attack.
Hitting back at a formidable attacking side, Newcastle found early responses in Antoinette Lewis, who fought with determination to split Lions’ wall of forwards down low.
Eagles also connected a series of laser passes to find Rachael Bland locked-and-loaded for a deep corner two-point jumper.
Running riot on the attack, however, London amassed 69 points heading into the halftime break with an eye-popping 50-point advantage.
Lions’ enviable chemistry came to the forefront once again in the second half, as almost all Lions players received touches of the ball before a score, with finishes ranging from layups, to physical post moves to clutch shots from outside.
The London masterclass endured into the final quarter, as the Lions surpassed the 100-point mark with eight minutes in the game to spare.
Eagles forward Katie Nolan tested Lions inside defence well, logging six straight points for the trailing hosts. However, the game concluded in spectacular fashion for the Lions, with a staggering 80-point win.
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