WBBL Championship
Durham Palatinates 84-74 Nottingham Wildcats (25-17, 43-38, 64-57)
(Palatinates – Wayne 30, Hendershot 24, Bautista 12; Wildcats – Gyles 19, Shaw 18, Nicholas 15)
WBBL Championship
Sevenoaks Suns 92-85 (O.T) Cardiff Met Archers (25-12, 48-39, 64-58, 83-83)
(Suns – Monakana 28, Bradshaw 20, Fritz 16; Archers – Bunyan 20, Saiki 19, Marchizotti 18)
WBBL Championship
Manchester Met Mystics 66-81 Newcastle Eagles (19-26, 34-51, 53-66)
(Mystics – Keltos 30, Sanchez Czerniecki 14, Mcmillan 8, Akra 8; Sharks – Justinak 21, Lewis 19, Fernandez Pardo 13)
WBBL Championship
Oakland Wolves 71-100 Essex Rebels (13-19, 34-45, 51-78)
(Wolves – George 33, Smith 15, Gould 13; Rebels – Swart 27, Turner 22, Munns 16)
It was another exciting WBBL Saturday with theSevenoaks Suns edging out a thriller in overtime against Cardiff Met Archers, followed by a first win of the season for the Durham Palatinates in a hard-fought encounter over the Nottingham Wildcats.
At the same time, Newcastle Eagles and Essex Rebels dominated away from home against Manchester Met Mystics and Oakland Wolves respectively.
In today’s most closely contested match, Sevenoaks Suns outbattled the Cardiff Met Archers 92-85 in an instant classic.
The visitors – known for their aggressive defence – tried their best to stop the Suns from scoring, but the home team moved the ball well to start the game.
A great example of good teamwork was when captain Renee Busch drove to the basket and dished to Janice Monakana for the easy two that would give their team a 9-8 lead, one that they didn’t lose again in the first half.
Both sides tried to push the ball on offence and hit on the transition, but in the first quarter, Sevenoaks seemed to be doing a better job at that – primarily through the use of their MVP Monakana, who had 11 points in just over seven minutes of action.
The GB international made her first two three-pointers but would also be aggressive and attack the basket, not allowing Cardiff a moment to relax.
Her teammates also contributed, with Judit Fritz and Araion Bradshaw joining in on the fun, the first with a long-range three and the second with a steal and lay-up on the transition to put the home team up 25-12 at the end of the first.
The Archers were not going to roll over, however, and started the second quarter on a 10-2 run when Lauren Saiki – who was their top scorer at the half with 12 points – took the back door cut and finished an open lay-up off the pass from Molly James, to close the gap down to 27-22.
But just when everyone thought Cardiff would capitalise on their momentum further, Monakana stepped up again for a three-point play, putting her team back up by eight points.
The 27-year-old continued her brilliant performance – which included 21 points at the half – by scoring another three-pointer, finishing the second period 3/5 from behind the arc.
The two sides then traded threes on two separate occasions, first with Issy Bunyan and Busch and then with Bradshaw and Saiki, which left the score at 46-39 with one minute to go until half-time – before Fritz made a lay-up to send her team to the changing rooms up by nine points.
Sevenoaks started the second half similarly to the first, being the team showing more hustle, primarily on offence, gathering lots of offensive rebounds.
And as a result, a three from Fritz handed the Suns their biggest lead of the game at 55-41 with more than two minutes of the third quarter played.
The Hungarian – who finished as her team’s third-highest scorer with 16 points – had a great third quarter, scoring most of her points during these 10 minutes and forcing Coach Collins into a time-out with just under four minutes to play in the period.
Archers tried to keep within touching distance of their opponent and, led by their defence – especially on Monakana, held scoreless in the quarter – managed to close the gap to as little as four points after an 8-0 run and Mara Marchizotti’s three-point play.
The Argentinian was undoubtedly the star of the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of her 18 points during this period.
She scored eight of those during the first two minutes of play – tying the game at 66-66 – and forced Coach Busch to put Julia Koppl back on the court to guard her, despite having four fouls.
Bradshaw gave her side a much-needed lift with her long-range three, but Bunyan closed the gap down to 69-68 after stealing the ball from Monakana again and running the floor on the transition for the easy two.
Archers managed to take their first lead of the game since the first quarter when with just over five minutes left to play, Saiki got the defensive rebound and threw a full-court pass to Shannon Hatch, who put her team up 70-69.
The following five minutes saw the two sides exchange several baskets before the visitors managed to take their largest lead of the game at 83-78 with less than 90 seconds left on the clock.
Busch then made two free throws for the Suns before Bradshaw was also sent to the line – with Marchizotti fouling out on the same play, the guard missed them both.
Suns, however, managed to get possession of the ball as it rolled out of bounds off an Archer’s player’s hands, with Monakana stepping up and draining the game-tying triple off the inbound pass.
The Londoner, who had scored 21 points in the first half, had so far been scoreless in the second but stepped up when her team needed her most, sending the game to overtime.
The extra five minutes saw Sevenoaks take the game by the scruff of its neck, and despite Cardiff’s best efforts, the home side came out on top, as Archers struggled to score with Marchizotti fouled out.
The win helped Suns move level in the standings with Archers, now both with a record of 3-3.
In today’s early tip-off, Durham Palatinates recorded their first win of the season by beating Nottingham Wildcats in a tight match in the north-east 84-74.
Both teams started the game by playing aggressive defence and pressing full court whenever they scored or if the ball was out of bounds under their opponent’s basket.
The first five minutes were evenly matched, with defences firmly on top, with coach Davie calling a time-out with his team up 11-10 to try and change things.
Nottingham were doing great on the boards, gathering many offensive rebounds but struggling to convert, allowing their opponents to build a lead.
Durham effectively used the fast-break, ending the quarter on a high when Inma Bautista faked her defender before jabbing to the side and draining a three-pointer to beat the clock at the end of the period, putting her team up 25-17.
The second period started in a similar way to how the first finished, with the home side controlling the tempo and forcing coach Liburd to call a time-out when he saw his team go down 32-21.
Whatever he told his team worked, as soon after the time-out, Wildcats put together a 7-0 run and brought the difference down to 36-31 with just over three minutes to play until half time – with the difference at the end of the second quarter staying at five points.
Durham’s players came out of the locker rooms with a fire in their belly, going on an 8-0 run and putting themselves up 51-38, the game’s largest lead so far.
Nottingham, however, refused to be beaten and closed the gap by the end of the third to just seven points through good ball movement and hustle.
Kennedy Nicholas was the perfect example of that hustle, as the centre grabbed a tough offensive rebound and scored an and-one right before the end of the period.
The first three minutes of the fourth quarter saw Durham assert their dominance and bring the difference back up to 71-59, forcing the Wildcats into a time-out.
That didn’t seem to change anything, as Palatinates continued to outperform their opponents and went up 75-59.
The visitors, however, were not going to let their opponents get their first W of the season without having to work hard for it and, with a 13-2 run of their own, closed the gap to just 76-72, by stealing the ball off their press defence and attacking the basket.
However, Durham managed to stay composed and hit their free throws at the end to secure their first win of the season, moving to a record of 1-4, forcing Nottingham to drop to 2-4.
In the third of today’s four games, Newcastle Eagles recorded their first away win after beating the Manchester Met Mystics 81-66.
The first quarter saw the two sides start confidently on offence, scoring a game-high 45 points combined.
Although Newcastle was on top from the third minute and never lost the lead again, the two sides were close at the end of the first period.
The second quarter is when Eagles took a commanding lead, leading by double digits within three minutes when Katie Nolan connected on a lay-up.
As the quarter progressed, the visitors continued to expand their lead through their tough defence that gave them a game total of 16 steals and forced their opponents into 26 turnovers.
With just 12 seconds to go until half-time, Newcastle got their largest lead at 49-31 when their second top scorer, Antoinette Lewis (19 points), scored a lay-up.
The second half saw Manchester come out hungrier, led by Shaelynne Sanchez Czerniecki, who intercepted the pass from Zoe Willis and scored an and-one on the transition, cutting the gap to 14 points.
Mystics continued playing very intense defence and, in two consecutive possessions, forced Newcastle into shot clock violations while scoring on the offensive end themselves and closing the gap to 53-45 after an 11-2 run in the first five minutes of the third period.
A three-pointer by Maggie Justinak gave Newcastle some much-needed breathing room and halted Manchester’s momentum, bringing the lead back up to 11 points (45-56), with her team never letting it slip below double digits for the rest of the match.
It was clear the Eagles had a game plan to press their opponents across the entire court and force them into turnovers – something they succeeded in achieving on several occasions.
This type of intensity, however, also led to plenty of fouls, allowing Mystics a chance to get some easy points from the free throw line.
The fourth quarter once again saw the home side try to complete a remarkable comeback, this time led by Vanessa Akra.
She scored back-to-back baskets – completing a 6-0 run for her team and closing the gap to 12 points, forcing coach Cacheiro into a time-out.
Newcastle, however, was not going to let the hard-earned win slip out of their hands and managed to close out the game, moving to a record of 3-4 while forcing their opponents to remain winless at 0-6.
The day’s final game saw Essex Rebels put on an absolute clinic on the road to the Oakland Wolves, blowing away their opponents 100-71.
The two teams were evenly matched in the first quarter, exchanging baskets for the first nine minutes of the game, with the difference between the two sides never being larger than four points.
A three-pointer by Jade Mbam in her team’s last possession of the quarter saw Essex take a six-point lead (13-19) at the end of the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter was very similar, with Oaklands not letting their opponents build up a big enough lead.
The hosts even went ahead when Cassidy Gould drove to the basket and made her lay-up, putting her team up 29-27 with six minutes to go until the half.
Led by Grace George – who put up game-high monster numbers of 33 points in 32 minutes – Wolves managed to stay competitive throughout the first 15 minutes, which is when Rebels started building up a difference again.
The visitors did not take kindly to going behind and responded with a 13-0 run when Claire Paxton drained a triple before going to the locker rooms up by 11 points.
The second half saw an offensive explosion from Essex, who outscored their opponents 37-55, with 33 of those points coming in the third period.
With four players in double digits for the game – of which three of them with over 15 points – Rebels didn’t allow their opponents any chance of getting a foothold in the third quarter.
They outscored the Wolves by 16 points in the third, combined with the 11 they were ahead at half-time, meant that the final period presented the home team with an impossible challenge.
With this win, Essex moves to 4-3 in the standings, while Oakland drops to 2-6.
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