WBBL Championship
Manchester Met Mystics 58-64 Durham Palatinates (18-13, 30-33, 40-50)
(Mystics – Jones 18, Allen 13, Meyer 8; Palatinates – Elderkin 17, Hendershot 14, Bennett 12)

WBBL Championship
Cardiff Met Archers 72-52 Oaklands Wolves 52 (17-15, 38-34, 56-42)
(Archers – Saiki 20, Hatch 19, Marchizotti 13; Wolves – Sarson 13, Uprus 12, Harrison 7)

WBBL Championship
Essex Rebels 85-49 Gloucester City Queens (17-11, 37-33, 61-39)
(Rebels – Waithe 23, Freeman 15, Bieg Salazar 10; Queens – Ball 24, Abbott 10, Bautista 6)

WBBL Championship
Nottingham Wildcats 78-91 Leicester Riders (16-19, 35-45, 61-64)
(Wildcats – Pannell 33, Gyles 19, Egharevba 13; Riders – Hamilton 22, Robb 21, Rouse 16)

WBBL Championship
Newcastle Eagles 56-74 Sevenoaks Suns (23-15, 34-35, 40-56)
(Eagles – Gaynor 15, Bland 12, Fernandez Pardo 12; Carr 28, Fritz 13, Koppl 8)

Sevenoaks Suns kept hot on the toes of London Lions for the WBBL Championship title on Saturday after collecting an away victory over Newcastle Eagles, 56-74.

The contest started off to somewhat of a surprising tone, as Newcastle Eagles ran out ahead of the reigning league champions into a double-digit lead during the opening period, before the visiting side managed to chop that lead down to single digits by the time the first period had ended, with Eagles still ahead by eight.

No doubt somewhat taken aback by the ambitious fighting spirit of the home side, Sevenoaks re-grouped in the second quarter with captain and current league MVP Cat Carr leading her team with 14 of Sevenoaks’ 20 second period points to bring the Trophy runners-up back into the lead but only by a single digit.

No doubt inspired by a spirited half-time team talk, Sevenoaks came out guns blazing like only they know how, shooting the lights out of their hosts 21-6, including holding off their hosts from a single basket for the remaining five minutes of the third period, capitalising on a 15-0 run.

That lead would prove too much for even the most courageous performance from the home side, and Sevenoaks would extend their lead to as much as 18 by the time the final buzzer sounded, keeping the pressure on close rivals London Lions in what is proving to be one of the hottest races for the WBBL league title.

Durham Palatinates picked up another major win to boost their Play-Offs hopes, defeating fifth place Manchester Met Mystics away from home, 58-64, to move up into the top eight.

Manchester jumped out ahead in the first quarter to take an 18-13 lead against the visiting Northerners, then extending the lead to eight in the opening seconds of the second period. However, after knocking down eight unanswered points, Durham found themselves tied with the hosts and managed to take a three-point lead heading into the half.

On the backs of leading team scorer Kara Elderkin (17 points, seven rebounds) and closely behind her with a double-double of 14 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, Elle Hendershot, Durham gave themselves a 10-point lead going into the final period.

Mystics captain Georgia Jones led her team with a resurging comeback, knocking down 12 points to bring her team back into the game, trailing by just a single point. A three pointer from Izzy Wood gave Durham a four-point lead with less than three minutes remaining in the game, and both teams piled on the pressure, with neither team managing to knock down a point for almost two minutes. As the clock trickled down to 30 seconds, Durham’s captain Katie Bennett managed to convert a pair of free throws twice within the final seconds of the game to give Durham a comfortable enough lead to ride out until the final buzzer.

Cardiff Met Archers picked up their fourth win of the season, defeating Oaklands Wolves by 20-points, 72-52, to move into 11th spot in the standings.

Both teams were evenly matched throughout the first two periods of the game, trading single digits leads throughout, with Oaklands even leading by as many as 10-points halfway through the second period but Cardiff would go into half-time leading by four.

The home side came bursting out the locker room, extending that lead to eight within the opening 30 seconds of the third, and then proceeded to shoot the lights out of Oaklands, going 18-8 to give themselves a nice 14-point lead going into the final quarter and then extending it to as many as 23, a gap which despite the best efforts of the visiting Oaklands side was too much to bounce back from.

Essex Rebels managed to jump up into fifth place, thanks in part to Mystics’ lost to Durham, but also due to their home win over Gloucester City Queens, 85-49.

Essex started the game confidentially, taking a 15-3 lead but the visiting Gloucester side started to mount a comeback, cutting the home side’s lead down to just six points by the end of the first period, and then only allowing Essex even smaller four-point lead going into half-time.

Despite a pair of three pointers from Essex’s Tia Freeman, Gloucester still managed to hold the hosts to just a four-point lead in the opening minutes of the third, but then they really began to struggle as Essex would run out ahead with a whopping 18-0 run, with Gloucester failing to knock down a single basket for the remaining seven minutes of the quarter, giving Essex a 22-point lead.

That run all but put the nail in the coffin for Gloucester, who despite best efforts in the final period, saw that lead go up to as many as 38, off the backs of double-double performances from DeAngelique Waithe, 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Carla Bieg Salazar, 10 points and 11 rebounds, giving Essex their 10th league victory of the season.

Leicester Riders picked up an away win to boost their chances of finishing in the top four, with an 78-91 victory over hosts Nottingham Wildcats.

Things looked promising for the Riders, who took a 10-point lead going into half-time but a 10-2 run from the home side, the visitors suddenly found that lead cut down to just two points within the opening four minutes of the third period, thanks to February’s Player of the Month Brooklyn Pannell shooting seven unanswered points.

The Wildcats managed to hold Riders to just a three-point lead by the time the fourth and final period of the game commenced but with Riders out shooting the home side 27-17, the visitors managed to rack up a double digit lead, enough to see them out until the final buzzer and give them their 12th league win.