WBBL Championship
Sevenoaks Suns 57-54 Sheffield Hatters (15-15, 28-27, 44-37, 57-54)
(Suns: C.Carr – 17, R.Busch – 17, J.Koppl – 13; Hatters: G.Gayle – 17, H.Shaw – 10, N.Fong Lyew Quee – 7)
WBBL Championship
Nottingham Wildcats 81-78 Essex Rebels (21-16, 45-38, 62-52, 81-78)
(Wildcats: B.Pannell – 20, P.Egharevba – 16, J.Gyles – 14; L.Costa – 29, D.Waithe – 16, A.Kohlhaas – 16)
Undefeated league-leaders Sevenoaks Suns and Nottingham Wildcats both earned hard-fought victories, beating Sheffield Hatters and Essex Rebels respectively by three points each.
The Suns managed to scrape victory against the Hatters earlier this afternoon, who were forced to settle for just their second loss of the season, against their Championship rivals who only outscored the visitors by one point in the first half and by two in the second.
Cat Carr and Renee Busch both scored 17 points for the home team, who had just two more players putting up any points – Janice Monakana with ten and Julia Koppl with 13.
While Frankie Wurtz didn’t manage to get a basket, she managed a game-high 13 rebounds – tied with Koppl who completed an impressive double-double to inspire her team to victory.
Hatters guard Georgia Gayle also equalled Carr and Busch’s total of 17 points for the game, while also going closest for the visitors to achieve a double-double with a team-high of eight rebounds.
Later on in the day, the Wildcats withstood a late fight-back from the Rebels to ensure they would overtake them in the standings, with guard Brooklyn Pannell having a particularly exceptional game as she dropped 20 points and 11 rebounds, as well as contributing five assists, four steals and one block.
Wildcats forward Praise Egharevba also once again made a significant contribution for her team despite playing just over 23 minutes, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds, while Imani Whittington also earned a double-double as she added 11 points and ten rebounds too.
Lucrezia Costa spearheaded the late comeback for the Rebels, putting up a game-high of 29 points and another game-high of 14 rebounds, while Andrea Kohlhaas and DeAngelique Waithe both scored 16 points each – but it wasn’t enough as Nottingham held on to take the victory.