WNBL1 recap: 26/27 October - live streams, stats and more

After five games in three days, Loughborough Riders remain as the only unbeaten team in WNBL1.

They head the standings after a win over Worcester Wolves and Manchester Mystics loss at Anglia Ruskin.

There was also a big win for Endeavour Ipswich Basketball and Ws for CoLA and Cobham.

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

CoLA Southwark Pride (3-1) 69-66 Thames Valley Cavaliers (2-2)

City of London Academy edged Thames Valley Cavaliers 69-66 in a thrilling encounter on Saturday. 

In a game that could have gone either way, a three-point play from TVC forward Yassin Belle Mbaye narrowed the gap to 67-66 with 90 seconds left. 

As the clock wound down and neither team able to score for the next minute, TVC had no choice but to foul with 10 seconds left. 

And when it mattered, Chandera Jones-Aryeh showed tremendous composure to sink the game-winning free throws and secure a double-double (10pts, 12rebs) in the process. 

Ayla Habbal drained three triples to finish with a game-high 27 points for CoLA. Belle-Mbaye had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers. 

.

TVC Head Coach Robbie Connell (Flo Alalade)

Elsewhere this weekend

Cobham Cobras (2-2) scored their second win of the season, beating Bristol Academy Flyers (1-3) 65-55. 

A corner three in the final seconds of the third from Nerea Iniguez gave the hosts a 52-46 advantage and from there, they able to stretch it to as many as ten points in the final quarter and not look back.  

Dominque Davis led the Cobras with 20 points, supported by Sophie’s Khalaf’s 17. Marlee Ball had a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds for Bristol. 

“Coming off two losses, we wanted to turn the corner, and we did,” Cobras coach Luke Dowding said. 

“We are starting to gel as a unit and we want to carry this form now and hopefully see out the first half of the season in good form.” 

On Friday, back-to-back three-pointers from Erin Caldwell and Emma Dunsire in the final minute lifted the Loughborough Riders (4-0) to a 64-58 win at Worcester Wolves (1-3). 

In a tightly contested game where neither team enjoyed a bigger lead than eight points, Riders managed to preserve their unbeaten start to the season thanks to clutch buckets when it mattered. Caldwell led Loughborough with 19 points and four steals. 

The Riders cause was helped by Anglia Ruskin (2-2) ending Manchester Mystics’ (3-1) unbeaten start to the season as Tia Freeman posted 27 points and 11 rebounds in a 69-61 overtime win. 

And Endeavour Ipswich Basketball (3-1) put on a show in front of the NBL Live cameras as a 28-point, 10-rebound double-double from Harriet Welham led them to a 101-50 win over Reading Rockets at Loddon Valley. 

This weekend's results:

Saturday 25 October

7:30pm - Worcester Wolves 58-64 Loughborough Riders - LIVE STATS / LIVE STREAM 

Saturday 26 October

1pm - Cobham Cobras 65-55 Bristol Academy Flyers - LIVE STATS 

2:15pm - CoLA Southwark Pride 69-66 Thames Valley Cavaliers - LIVE STATS 

Sunday 27 October

2:30pm - Reading Rockets 50-101 Endeavour Ipswich Basketball - LIVE STATS / LIVE STREAM 

3:30pm - Manchester Mystics 61-69 Anglia Ruskin University - LIVE STATS 

.

Main image credit - CoLA Southwark Pride