WBBL Championship
Newcastle Eagles 68-88 Nottingham Wildcats (21-22, 33-44, 45-61)
(Eagles – Fernandez Pardo 25, Mcvicar 24, Cipcic 12; Wildcats – Pannell 29, Gyles 16, Egharevba 12)
WBBL Championship
London Lions 91-51 Caledonia Pride (28-13, 52-26, 71-36)
(Lions – Beckford-Norton 21, Stewart 12, Leedham-Warner 12; Pride – James 18, Harvey 9, Phillips 8)
WBBL Championship
Durham Palatinates 68-55 Manchester Met Mystics (22-10, 38-32, 51-49)
(Palatinates – Wayne 22, Elderkin 16, Hendershot 9; Mystics – Jones 19, Bailey 15, Williams 10)
WBBL Championship
Sevenoaks Suns 102-34 Gloucester City Queens (25-2, 50-8, 78-20)
(Suns – Busch 26, Monakana 17, Wurtz 16; Queens – Marques 14, Ball 12, Bautista 6)
As the race for the WBBL Playoffs nears its conclusion, Nottingham Wildcats and Durham Palatinates picked up huge wins on Sunday to keep themselves in the fight for the final Playoff berth.
At the top of the table London Lions maintained their 100% record whilst Sevenoaks Suns put in a dominant performance as they held Gloucester City Queens to only 34 points.
The day’s action tipped off in Newcastle with Nottingham Wildcats knowing that a win over Newcastle Eagles matched with Durham Palatinates failing to win would secure their role in the Playoffs. A tight first period was followed by a dominant defensive effort in the second, as they held the Eagles to only 12 points.
The Wildcats were dominant on the inside and outrebounded the Eagles 55-29, with Brooklyn Pannell and Praise Egharevba both posting double-doubles as Nottingham pulled out to a comfortable victory.
Pannell finished with a game-high 29 points to go with 11 rebounds, whilst Egharevba racked up an incredible 17 rebounds whilst putting up 12 points.
With one foot in the Playoffs, the Wildcats would have turned their attention to Durham who needed a win over Manchester Met Mystics to keep their dreams alive. They made the ideal start with a 14-2 run in an excellent opening 10 minutes. The Mystics regrouped however and closed the lead at the break to single digits.
Manchester again closed the gap in the third period as the Palatinates struggled to find their footing on the offensive end, before a commanding final period saw Durham hold the Mystics to only six points as they ensured the fight for the Playoffs would carry on.
Jessica Wayne led the way for Durham with 22 points as she played all 40 minutes, on an impressive 7-10 shooting.
With the race for the Playoffs going into the final games of the season, the league’s top two sides turned in equally impressive performances as the Championship chase continued.
London Lions were looking to make it 20-0 as they faced Caledonia Pride who were looking to make it three wins on the bounce. They were facing a tall order as the Lions flew out the blocks. London doubled Caledonia’s points tally for the first half.
As the game wore on London looked to give more minutes to their bench players as they ensured they would be two points clear at the top for at least a couple of hours.
Shanice Beckford-Norton continued her fine form as she posted 21 points and five rebounds, and Shequila Joseph posted a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
London will finish the weekend joined at the top with Sevenoaks Suns, however have played two less games. The Suns wrapped up the weekend’s action with a dominating performance over Gloucester City Queens.
In a remarkable defensive performance in the first half, Sevenoaks held the Queens to only eight points in the opening 20 minutes. The Queens were shorthanded on the day with Carolina Marques and Marlee Ball playing all 40 minutes.
The Suns kept the pace for the final two quarters, with the race for the Championship also heading into the final games of an enthralling WBBL season.
Renee Busch led the way for the Suns with 26 points, shooting 8-13 from three-point range.