WNBL1 Recap: Week 24 (10/11 April 2021) - live streams, stats and more

Week 24 proved to be an important one in the race for the D1W regular season title.

Reading's upset victory over second place Loughborough means that leaders Ipswich can now afford to lose against Riders next month and still stay ahead of their title rivals, that is providing the Suffolk side don't drop any further points between now and the end of the season.

There was plenty of excitement elsewhere this weekend to, including Worcester finally picking up a victory in an OT nail-biter against Cardiff.

There's a recap of all the action below, and each result is also clickable if you wish to view the live stats.

Rockets show their class

Reading Rockets (7-7) 70-64 Loughborough Riders (9-4) 

Reading put a huge dent in Loughborough's title hopes, downing the Riders 70-64 behind 18 points from Gaila Comesana.

The Spanish guard was supported well by Sitota Gines Espinosa, who added a 17 point, 10 rebound double-double to go with three assists and five steals.

The Riders had the best of the first half, though it was the Rockets that went into the break ahead, up 38-37.

The visitors lost their way in the third however, going down 21-10 and allowing Reading to build a lead they'd never relinquish.

Katie Januszewska was the standout for Loughborough in defeat, she finished with 22 points and nine boards as Makana Stone was held to just 1-9 from the field and four points.

Elsewhere this weekend

Worcester Wolves (5-7) snapped their six game losing streak against Cardiff Met Archers (1-10), but needed a period of OT to do so as they triumphed 78-76.

Worcester's Carolina Marques forced the extra period with seven seconds remaining before the Wolves took a low-scoring OT frame 6-4.

Marques finished on a game-high 29 points, with Eloise Ferguson scoring 24 points for Archers.

BA London Lions II (3-10) suffered a pair of tough losses on the weekend, starting with an 81-69 defeat against Nottingham Trent University (6-6) on Saturday.

The Lions led 62-50 going into the fourth quarter before NTU took the final frame 31-7 to win by double digits.

Mady Burdett closed on 27 points for Trent, including nine in that final quarter. Leia Edwards top scored for Barking with 14 points.

On Sunday, BA came up short once more, this time losing to Reading 59-55.

The Rockets led almost wire-to-wire in this one, though the scores were briefly tied in the third. The difference between the sides never went above five points for the vast majority of the final quarter though as Reading held on for the win thanks to 18 points from Gaila Comesana and Candela Hermida Nunez.

Leaders Ipswich (12-2) crushed bottom side Cardiff 108-58 as MVP candidate Harriet Welham piled up 41 points.

Welham also added 11 rebounds, eight assists and seven steals to her afternoon's work to finish with an efficiency rating of 49.

Finally, CoLA Southwark Pride (8-3) won their sixth in a row as they moved into third spot following a 68-45 W over Thames Valley Cavaliers (3-8).

The London side overcame 36 turnovers to push Isi Ozzy-Momodu (10pts, 16reb) and Molly Lavin (10pts, 13reb) to double-doubles, with Emilie Black (11pts) and Funmi Amode (10pts) also playing well.

Captain Katherine Goldsby once again led the way for TVC, she finished with 16 points.

This weekend's results:

Saturday 10 April

1pm - Cardiff Met Archers 76-78 Worcester Wolves - LIVE STATS
1pm - Reading Rockets 70-64 Loughborough Riders - LIVE STATS
3:30pm - BA London Lions II 69-81 Nottingham Trent University - LIVE STATS
6pm - Thames Valley Cavaliers 45-68 CoLA Southwark Pride - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM

Sunday 11 April

1pm - Cardiff Met Archers 58-108 Ipswich - LIVE STATS
1:30pm - Reading Rockets 59-55 BA London Lions II - LIVE STATS

Main image credit - Luke Simcock

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