The South Coast side edged a narrow contest against Ipswich on Saturday night, putting further pressure on the chasing pack to keep up with the pace at the top.
We take a look at that game plus all the weekend's action below, with links to live stats and live streams at the bottom of the page.
Leaders Solent came through a tough test against former champs Ipswich this weekend, closing out a 69-66 home win.
The visitors had led by as many as 11 points early in the second half, though a strong run in the third quarter allowed Solent to erase their deficit before heading into the final 10 minutes down by three.
Taking the fourth 22-16 would seal the win for the Kestrels, though the scores were tied at 64-64 with just 1:33 remaining.
Solent owe plenty to starters Megan Dorney (21pts, 11reb) and Faye Endean (18pts, 10reb, 5ast), who both played well, with former Ipswich player Yassin Belle-Mbaye (14pts, 7reb) and captain Krisztina Velkey-Cleeve (8pts, 7reb, 6ast) chipping in with useful contributions.
Christabel Osarobo continued to grow her reputation at this level with a solid 13-point, 16-rebound outing for Ipswich, and Liv Forster dropped a game-high 24 points. Ipswich's efforts were all the more impressive considering they were also without Louisa Gibbins and Ava Battese, with both starters missing for the first-vs-seventh contest.
Solent now have four games left on the season, and as things stand, are four points in front of second-place Thames Valley (who have a game in hand).
That means the Cavs can push Solent almost all the way to the finish line of the regular season, especially since the two teams meet in Uxbridge on 19 March for what should be an pivotal contest in deciding where this season's league title will end up.
Courageous effort from our short handed women, missing two starters….
— Ipswich Basketball (@IpswichBball) March 4, 2023
Pushing the league leaders to the limit but coming up just short.#IBCfamily pic.twitter.com/AVDZL4TR9V
Three other games made up Saturday, starting with London Lions II (7-11) continuing their push for a playoff spot by beating Worcester Wolves (4-16) 73-56.
Thirty four points and 15 boards from Fatmata Janneh were more than enough to get the Lions another valuable win, with Ruchae Walton also playing well to drop 19 points.
Thames Valley Cavaliers (14-3) did all they could to keep the pressure on leaders Solent, besting Loughborough Riders (9-10) 71-51 on Saturday before topping London Lions II 75-45 on Sunday.
Forwards Chinwe Iwunze (15pts, 10reb) and Helene Trailin (10pts, 10reb) both recorded double-doubles against the Riders, with Faith Okwuosa (18pts, 7reb) coming to the fore against the Lions yesterday.
Bristol Academy Flyers' (4-14) recent uptick in form couldn't help the South West side overcome Brent Bulls (9-6), with the Londoners winning 80-51 thanks to 14 points apiece from Josephine Maignomo and Itziar Fernandez.
On Sunday, Anglia Ruskin University (11-6) beat Cardiff Met Archers II (1-19) 73-55.
A close game at the half, ARU broke things open with a 23-12 third quarter as Rian Rawlings would finish with 20 points and eight boards for the visitors.
Reading Rockets (11-6) pushed defending champs CoLA Southwark Pride (14-5) all the way to OT yesterday before falling to a 64-55 loss.
Both teams had a shot to win the game in regulation, but in the end Saioa San Francisco's lay up with 30 seconds remaining proved to be the final scoring of regulation. CoLA then bossed the extra period to win by nine, with Ana-Isabel Andersson dropping a joint game-high 17 points to go with nine rebounds.
Reading's Lindsey Cleary also had 17 points, adding eight rebounds and three assists as the Rockets fell back into a tie with Anglia Ruskin for a place in the top four.
CoLA hold off Rockets in OT.
— bbl fix (@BblFix) March 5, 2023
📸 Luke Simcock pic.twitter.com/ixsOKhG9Gs
2pm - London Lions II 73-56 Worcester Wolves - LIVE STATS
3pm - Thames Valley Cavaliers 71-51 Loughborough Riders - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM
5pm - Bristol Academy Flyers 51-80 Brent Bulls - LIVE STATS/LIVESTREAM
6pm - Team Solent Kestrels 69-66 Ipswich - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM
1pm - Cardiff Met Archers II 55-73 Anglia Ruskin University - LIVE STATS
2:15pm - CoLA Southwark Pride 64-55 Reading Rockets (After 1OT) - LIVE STATS/LIVESTREAM
3:30pm - Thames Valley Cavaliers 75-45 London Lions II - LIVE STATS/LIVESTREAM
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Main image credit - Luke Simcock
