The first of those was from Nottingham Wildcats’ star guard, Chelsey Shumpert, who came close to what would have been a first ever quadruple-double in the WBBL as she posted 26 points, nine rebounds, nine steals and eight assists.
Wildcats won 78-53 on the road at Durham Palatinates, to make it three straight league wins for a 5-3 record, after they opened the second stanza with an 11-0 burst when Tia Freeman sparked it with a three-pointer before Shumpert hit the next seven for a 28-11 lead.
Palatinates got close in the second half, but a 13-0 surge early in the fourth quarter – that included six for Jasmine Joyner and another Freeman triple – settled the game, as the visitors went on to win that period 25-8.
Wildcats, in second, stay above Essex Rebels in the table as they slipped to Manchester Met Mystics 90-102; Mystics becoming the first team to go through a century in WBBL Championship play this season with Georgia Jones nearing a triple-double with 35 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Mystics trailed the in-form Rebels by just one point in a high-scoring first half, but made the key run immediately out of the halftime break as they scored 10 of the first 12 points of the third, five for Sophia Song, to make the score 60-53.
Although it remained tight, the lead reached double-figures at 87-77 in the fourth as Song hit a triple and Vanessa Akra came from the bench to score eight points in the first four minutes of the period, meaning back-to-back wins for Manchester for the first time this season.
Finally, Caledonia Pride moved to 2-3 and put daylight between themselves and the teams currently outside of the Play-off places, including the Newcastle Eagles side that they beat 86-81 to snap a run of three straight defeats in all competitions.
Pride were let by yet another of the performances of the season so far, as Sian Phillips posted a huge double-double of 28 points and 23 rebounds, adding six steals, four assists and two blocks.
The first key run came midway through the third when Phillips scored nine points in a 13-2 run that made the score 61-52 as the hosts didn’t allow their visitors a score from open play for over five minutes.
Eagles came all the way back to tie the game on an Alison Gorrell score, as she finished with 38, but Pollyanna Storie replied and Phillips scored consecutively inside the final four minutes to make the score 78-72 with three minutes to play, and that proved to be enough.
Leicester Riders confirmed their place in the WBBL Trophy on Sunday afternoon as BA London Lions maintained their 100% record in the WBBL Championship.
The defending champions from 2020’s competition, the Riders continued their defence of the Trophy in convincing fashion, as they enjoyed a comfortable victory over Oaklands. The Lions kept up their perfect start to the WBBL Championship, as they made it four wins from four in a tight affair in Newcastle.
The Wolves made a bright start to the game in Leicester however the Riders came out firing in the middle two periods and had built a sizeable lead going into the final 10 minutes.
Leicester were buoyed by the pairing of Kate Oliver and Holly Winterburn who both recorded double-doubles, with Oliver leading the game in scoring with 23 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
Greeta Uprus performed well for Oaklands as she posted 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists as Uprus filled the stat sheet nicely, but the Riders’ firepower proved to be too much for the Wolves.
It was a tighter affair in Newcastle as the Lions impressive fourth quarter performance secured a hard-fought win against a Newcastle side who have only won once in the Championship this season.
Alison Gorrell enjoyed another fine afternoon for the Eagles as she racked up a game high 28 points along with 8 assists as the game was tied going into the fourth and final quarter. However, the Eagles couldn’t secure a much-needed victory as London outscored Newcastle by 23 points to 12 in a hugely impressive fourth quarter showing.
Cassie Breen led the Lions in scoring with 20 points as Shanice Beckford-Norton posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds in a huge showing for an in-form Lions side.
