WNBL1 recap 6/7 January - live streams, stats and more

With a few late postponements, the weekend's D1W action ended up lighter than expected, though no less important.

Reading vs Barking and CoLA vs Barking proved to be late scratches, leaving four games across the weekend to enjoy.

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

Thames Valley Cavaliers (7-4) 76-80 Loughborough Riders (8-5)

Thames Valley's title push took a major hit this weekend as they lost a close one at home to Loughborough Riders, going down 80-76.

TVC raced out to a 16-point lead as they flew out of the gates in the first, though Loughborough would get that deficit back below five in the second quarter after a strong run of their own.

The second half was a similar story, with TVC once again pushing ahead and establishing a lead that topped out at 18 this time, only for the Riders to roar back once more, grabbing their only advantage of the afternoon shortly before the buzzer sounded.

To lose a game they dominated for large passages must have hurt the hosts, especially as it widens the gap in the title race and creates a loss of momentum ahead of the WNBL National Cup Final later this month.

Helene Trailin's massive 45 efficiency double-double of 26 points and 22 rebounds so nearly got TVC over the line, but it was WEABL standout Erin Powell who would have the last laugh for Loughborough, dropping 23 points to go with eight rebounds.

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Elsewhere this weekend

Anglia Ruskin University (5-8) moved back into the playoff places with a 64-54 home win against Bristol Academy Flyers (5-7).

Rian Rawlings (21pts, 6reb) played a key role in the ARU win as they led from tip to buzzer, cancelling out 18 points from Bristol forward Cristina Bigica.

Leaders Endeavour Ipswich Basketball (11-1) added another W to their win column following a comfortable 74-45 victory against bottom side Team Solent Kestrels (1-9).

Harriet Welham had a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double, Liv Forster added 23 points and Christabel Osarobo pulled down 21 boards to go with seven points and seven assists for the visitors.

That just left Manchester Mystics (6-6) to claim the battle of the newly-promoted sides, beating City of Birmingham Rockets (2-9) 77-52.

Restricting CoB to just 20 first-half points, the Mystics enjoyed 20 points from Elizandra Costa and a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double from Irene Oboavwoduo to move their record back to .500.

This weekend's results:

Saturday 6 January

4:15pm - Anglia Ruskin University 64-54 Bristol Academy Flyers - LIVE STATS

Sunday 7 January

4pm - Team Solent Kestrels 45-74 Endeavour Ipswich Basketball - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM

4:30pm - Thames Valley Cavaliers 76-80 Loughborough Riders - LIVE STATS

5:30pm - Manchester Mystics 77-52 City of Birmingham Rockets - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM

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Main image credit - Luke Simcock