WNBL1 preview: 10/11 February - live streams, stats and more

Another six D1W games fill the coming weekend, with teams desperate for wins as the post-season nears.

The playoff situation as as competitive as ever, with four teams still vying for a shot at the title as well.

We take a look at all the weekend's action below, with links to live stats and live streams at the bottom of the page.

Brent Bulls (11-3) vs Anglia Ruskin University (7-8)

Brent Bulls will aim to keep their title aspirations on track as they welcome seasoned D1W campaigners Anglia Ruskin this weekend.

Brent have been able to utlise a pair of home and away double-header weekends with City of Birmingham and Team Solent Kestrels to really kickstart their title charge since the turn of the year, beating both sides twice to pad the win column.

That flurry of results has seen the London club progress quickly up the standings, getting into the title mix with the likes of Ipswich, Thames Valley and CoLA.

Anglia Ruskin aren't at those lofty heights right now, but the former D1W winners are still a tough team to beat at this level.

This ARU side knocked off Ipswich in an OT classic last time out to end January, so they have more than enough quality across their roster to cause an upset on their day.

Courtney Gray (14pts, 11reb, 6stl) and Rian Rawlings (17pts, 6reb, 6ast) both played well for Ruskin in that one and will be hoping to keep that momentum going, though that'll be tricky against the likes of Judit Fritz (19.0PPG, 3.7APG) and Jess Davies (15.1PPG, 13.5RPG) who have both been in great form this season.

A win for Brent would keep the pressure on leaders Ipswich and those around them, whilst ARU are still firmly in the battle for the playoff spots in seventh. Both teams could use the points, but only one will come out on top to close the weekend.

 

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Elsewhere this weekend

With a trio of games on both Saturday and Sunday, that leaves five more games to cover.

The weekend begins with Team Solent Kestrels' (1-13) trip to Barking Abbey (4-9). With eight games remaining in Solent's season and a six-point gap to BA in tenth, time is running out for the defending champs to beat the drop, whilst Barking can continue pushing for a potential playoff spot with a win.

City of Birmingham Rockets (3-13) are another team face a potential drop to D2W. They have a tough assignment at home to Thames Valley Cavaliers (10-4), who will want to keep their foot on the accelerator in the title race.

Leaders Endeavour Ipswich Basketball (12-3) have a tricky trip up to Manchester Mystics (8-6), who are no pushovers and had no problems beating fellow title hopefuls CoLA back in December.

Sunday begins with Bristol Academy Flyers (6-9) hosting Loughborough Riders (9-7). The Flyers are currently clinging onto the eighth and final playoff spot and will need to put together a great performance to see off a Loughborough team looking to take their win total to double digits for the year.

Outside of Brent ARU, Sunday's only other game sees Reading Rockets (5-6) heading over to CoLA Southwark Pride (9-4).

Much was expected of the Rockets this year after their forth place finish and a trip to the WNBL National Cup Final last season, but for whatever reason that promise has failed to materalise in 2023/24.

A trip to CoLA is a difficult game for any team, especially one trying to get themselves into the playoff picture, whilst Pride will know they need a win to keep pace in the four-way title race.

This weekend's fixtures:

Saturday 10 February

2pm - Barking Abbey vs Team Solent Kestrels - LIVE STATS

5pm - City of Birmingham Rockets vs Thames Valley Cavaliers - LIVE STATS

6:30pm - Manchester Mystics vs Endeavour Ipswich Basketball - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM

Sunday 11 February

12:30pm - Bristol Academy Flyers vs Loughborough Riders - LIVE STATS

2:15pm - CoLA Southwark Pride vs Reading Rockets - LIVE STATS

3pm - Brent Bulls vs Anglia Ruskin University - LIVE STATS

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Main image credit - Flo Alalade