Betty Codona WBBL Trophy, semi-final

Newcastle Eagles 63-91 Leicester Riders (21-27, 33-50, 53-74)
(Eagles: Fernandez, 19; Lewis, 12; Lowe, 8 — Riders: Brown, 18; Arlen, 17; Squires, 16)

WBBL Championship

Caledonia Gladiators 79-54 Nottingham Wildcats (22-15, 41-30, 67-37)
(Gladiators: McGarrachan/Adams, 16; Wolf, 14, Handy, 10 — Wildcats: Stewart, 17; Whittington, 11; Shaw, 10)

 WBBL Championship

Cardiff Met Archers 80-73 Oaklands Wolves (19-10, 39-21, 58-48)
(Archers: Saiki, 21; Bunyan/Hatch, 16; Yunker, 12 — Wolves: Smith, 20; George, 18; Could, 15)

Leicester Riders set-up a WBBL Cup final rematch by despatching Newcastle Eagles 91-63 in the Betty Codona WBBL Trophy semi-final at the Vertu Motors Arena on Saturday night.

 A second final and a second bite of the cherry against the London Lions beckons for the Riders who used a 10-1 run to start the third quarter to stamp their authority in the semi-final.

And, like in January, Leicester will meet London in a final named after a women’s basketball trailblazer on the first anniversary of her passing.

Kirsty Brown shot 8/10 from the field on her way to 18 points with Ashley Arlen adding 17.

Marina Fernandez led all scorers in vain for the Eagles with 19 points and five assists.

 In a quick start to the game, Eagles got off to the better start but Leicester found their way back into the game and took the lead with 4:01 as Hannah Robb drained a three.

Both teams moved the ball well and at pace in the first quarter and as the period progressed, it suited the visitors as a 7-2 run gave the Riders a 26-19 cushion and despite a score from Chloe Gaynor, the Eagles trailed 27-21.

The hosts reduced the gap to 31-28 with less than two minutes of the second quarter played, thanks to a three from the corner by Maggie Justinak that ignited the Vertu Motors Arena crowd.

The positive spell though didn’t last. Leicester regrouped and took a double-digit lead based on accurate shooting, quick, sharp passes and solid defence, Arlen hit a corner three with 1:17 left in the half for a 45-31 Riders lead.

And the visitors stranglehold on the game was tightened thanks to a 10-1 start to the third quarter to put the semi-final out of sight.

Newcastle enjoyed positive spells in the final period, but Riders were comfortable and are now on their way to Glasgow.

Caledonia Gladiators recovered from the slow start to overcome Nottingham Wildcats 79-54 in the WBBL Championship at the Lagoon Sports Centre.

It was a slow first four minutes from the Gladiators, but thankfully for them, it was a minor blip as once they found their rhythm, they were brutal, and the Wildcats could not contain them.

In the end, Caledonia put the game to bed in the third quarter, out-scoring Nottingham 26-7 to seal the win and improve to 11-3 for the season, dropping the Wildcats to 3-12.

Erin McGarrachan and Tea Adams led the winners with 16 points, supported by a double-double of 14 and 10 rebounds for Abbie Wolf.

“It took a while for us to get going today,” McGarrachan said.

“Nottingham came out hot, they have some great players, and we were not taking them lightly. But once we got into a rhythm, settled down, our shots started to fall, and we all worked for each other, including on the defensive side, everything clicked for us.”

Mari Stewart got a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Wildcats.

From the outset, both sides pushed the ball at a furious pace, and to start, it suited the visiting Wildcats as a lay-up by Imani Whittington gave them a 7-4 lead.

Caledonia, who were guilty of missing open looks in the early going, managed to take the lead midway through the first thanks to a short jumper from McGarrachan and from there, they managed to build on that advantage.

From there, Nottingham, heavily reliant on shooting from outside, were not making their shots and the hosts were moving the ball well and getting the looks they needed. As a result, they enjoyed a 22-15 lead.

And in the first possession of the second quarter, Chantelle Handy extended Caledonia’s lead to 25-15 with a deep three followed by a score from Abbie Wolf, as the Wildcats missed their first three field goal attempts of the quarter, forcing a timeout.

Out of the break, Kayla Shaw got Nottingham off and running as they put together a good spell where they were patient on defence, getting stops and putting points on the board.

However, the home side looked comfortable in front, extending their advantage to double digits again and had a 41-30 cushion by the half.

Caledonia didn’t seem in the mood to keep the Wildcats in range and began the third on an 8-2 run, capped by a score inside by McGarrachan to give the hosts a 49-32 lead.

And a jumper from Handy extended Gladiators’ lead to 55-35 with 5:42 left in the quarter, as they had issues executing both inside and out.

It was a struggle for the Wildcats, who turned the ball over nine times in the quarter and found themselves trailing by 30 points heading into the fourth.

Despite a buoyant final quarter from the Wildcats, the 26-7 third period hurt them as Caledonia eased to the win.

Cardiff Met Archers survived a remarkable fightback from the Oaklands Wolves, eventually securing an 80-73 win at Archers Arena.

Having led by as many as 26 points with four minutes of the second quarter left, Cardiff looked comfortable going into the half against the young Oaklands side.

The visiting Wolves, though, clawed their way back into proceedings and with 2:50 remaining, free throws from Jorjah Smith – who finished with a game-high 20 points – narrowed the gap to 72-70.

Cardiff, rattled by the second-half comeback from the Wolves, were under tremendous pressure in the final two minutes but kept calm to win the game from the foul line.

Lauren Saiki paced Cardiff with 21 points on 50% shooting, with Shannon Hatch and Issy Bunyan both adding 16, the former pulling down 15 rebounds.

After conceding the game’s first four points, Cardiff responded with a 10-0 run, highlighted by a gorgeous transition score by Hatch, who scored four points in that run.

Oaklands, who started 0/6 from three-point land, finally hit at the seventh attempt as Daisy Porter connected from the wing, but overall Cardiff were more composed offensively, and they took a 19-10 lead after one.

And the Archers’ momentum kept going in the early stages of the third as Saiki hit back-to-back jumpers as part of a 17-0 run for a 36-10 lead as Oaklands’ woes from downtown continued.

It took more than six minutes for the Wolves to register a field goal in the second as Eva Karasaite scored under the basket, and despite their struggles from outside (1/20), the visitors found joy inside to keep the scoreboard ticking. However, Cardiff – shooting 41% from the field – led 39-21 at the break.

The deadly duo of Grace George and Smith terrorised the Archers to start the third, and a three from the latter narrowed the deficit to 44-29 with less than four minutes played.

Smelling blood, the rejuvenated Wolves side pressured Cardiff with full court pressure as the home side turned the ball over, delighting the Oaklands bench.

Led by Saiki though, the Archers found ways to keep them in the ascendency however, the visitors narrowed the gap to as little as 10 points, highlighted by a sublime lay-up in traffic by George.

Smith drained a three-pointer to bring it to single-digits with more than two minutes of the final quarter played and as the fourth wore on, the deficit got shorter.

Beth Sarson connected inside, followed by another score from George to make it a two-possession game, making the Archers faithful sweat from the stands.

However, by the final buzzer, the home side overcame the determined Oaklands unit.

To be part of the Betty Codona WBBL Trophy final in Glasgow on Sunday, 26 March, the get your tickets here.