As a writer, commentator, podcaster and more, Paul watched a pair of D1 teams do battle in the WNBL National Cup, as well as overseeing a pair of league contests, when picking his Player and Team of the Week selections.
Have your say on this week's choices and give a shout-out to the players you think deserve one using the hashtag #NBL2324. Don't forget to tag us!
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Darren will pick a Player of the Week and four other selections to round out his Team of the Week, paying attention to the following criteria:
The FocusHoops Team of the Week 
Cup Final winner, Cup Final MVP and player of the week Welham had a pretty good weekend. Her 34 points came from 50% shooting, including four made threes, and a perfect 10-10 from the stripe. Welham took over the final down the stretch, scoring 15 points in the final period including three triples which took the game out of TVC’s hands and has given British Basketball an iconic photo. Add four boards and five assists to cap off a crucial performance.
Goldsby put in a huge double-double performance in TVC’s brave losing effort on Sunday. She sank five triples and went 5-7 from the stripe. Goldsby rebounded well and finished with five steals and a block. The TVC leader had the ball in her hands and found teammates for six assists, whilst turning the ball over just twice in a frantic game of basketball.
Fritz continues to make her presence felt on WNBL1 with a fantastic 29 points, seven-rebound, six assist performance on the road against Loughborough. She came up clutch down the stretch, tying the game twice in the fourth quarter before scoring the free-throws that gave her side the lead late in the contest. Fritz’s points came off 40% scoring and 11-11 from the stripe, with three steals and a block on the defensive end.
Osarobo was one of the stars of the cup final, finishing with a +17 in a six-point win, she had a major impact on winning. With a 17-11 double-double on a game-high 63% shooting, four of her boards were on the offensive end. On defence Osarobo was a menace, rejecting three shots and swiping one steal to help Ipswich avenge last week’s loss and take home the cup.
Edwards finished Sunday’s final with a 17-11 double-double, dished four dimes and swiped five steals in an excellent display. She drew the second most fouls on Ipswich in the final and hit 7-10 from the foul line to go with 45% shooting from the floor. Edwards ended TVC hopes with 11 seconds remaining. Having picked off an errant pass, she drew a foul from Goldsby and then sank two free-throws to ice the game just as TVC had cut the deficit to six points to help see out the victory.
The Women’s National Cup Final was a thriller! Congrats to champions Endeavour Ipswich Basketball 🏆 pic.twitter.com/8LrhEn1RTu
— NBL (@NBLengland) January 22, 2024
A huge effort in the third period saw Brent take an important victory away from Loughborough to join them in joint second place (with three games in hand). Judit Fritz, Jess Davies and Vanessa Akra led the way in scoring with 29, 14 and 11 points respectively with Davies racking up a 14-15 double-double as she dominated the glass. Rose Bryan put in a huge performance for the hosts putting up 20 points on 57%, going an impressive 4-5 from outside. A key differentiator between the sides was the foul count, with Loughborugh committing eight more fouls and sending Brent to the stripe 22 more times generating them 26 points.
Ipswich claimed the National Cup on Sunday in one of the best finals in recent years. Ipswich shot well as a team, hitting 41% from the floor but were deadly from the stripe getting 26 points from the line on 32 trips. Ipswich were led by Harriet Welham with 34 points including a perfect 10-10 from the line and 17 points from Yazmin Edwards, Christabel Osarobo and Liv Forster (who has announced is NCAA D1 bound in the autumn). TVC were led by their dynamic duo of Kat Goldsby and Robyn Ainge who had 24 and 16 points respectively with Helene Trailin adding a 9-12 battling performance.
Jess Davies BRE - 14-15-2 22 EFF
Rose Bryan LOU - 20-4-3 23 EFF
Helene Trailin TVC - 9-12-1 23 EFF
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