The reigning regular-season champs claimed a huge contest against title rivals CoLA on Saturday before watching the third horse in the race for top spot, Brent, also drop points.
We take a look back at all the weekend's match-ups below, with links to live stats at the bottom of the page.
Ipswich stand alone at the top of the D1W standings after a 75-63 victory against CoLA Southwark Pride.
The Suffolk side dominated the first half, winning the first quarter 22-13 and the second 26-12 to lead 48-25 after 20 minutes.
CoLA fought back after the main change, and even though they couldn't undo their deficit, they did trim it by enough to maintain the head-to-head tiebreaker between the sides should it be needed by season's end.
Maddy Wormald (24pts, 10reb) was the standout for the hosts, putting together a double-double outing alongside solid production from Maisie Keyes (15pts, 6ast, 5reb) and Harriet Welham (13pts, 5reb). Louisa Gibbins (7pts, 14reb) did her job on the glass as Ipswich managed to tie the rebounding battle 49-49, an area they struggled in the last time these sides met.
Playing without Chloe Vela, Ayla Habbal (19pts, 12reb) and Adaora Dioramma (15pts, 8reb) did the bulk of the work for CoLA, as Chandera Jones-Aryeh (10pts, 4ast, 4reb) was the only other Pride player to make it to double digits scoring.
Brent's surprise loss to Manchester softens the blow of the defeat for CoLA, and provides Ipswich with a little extra breathing room at the top. With three losses apiece for the trio and different total games played though, it really couldn't be much tighter at D1W's summit.
CoLA now travel to Worcester next weekend, with Ipswich heading to Brent for what is another blockbuster match-up.
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Barking Abbey (2-13) came within a whisker of a big win against Loughborough Riders (9-6), falling just short 66-64.
Both teams led in the fourth quarter before the Riders took the tie, with Alex Shaw (20pts, 15reb) and Melissa Leet (12pts, 15reb) both providing double-doubles in the win.
Anglia Ruskin University (10-7) picked up their 10th win of the season as they beat Cobham Cobras (6-11) 61-46 behind 23 points from Tia Freeman.
Brent Bulls (12-3) came unstuck in the North West, going down 73-66 against an Elizandra Costa-inspired Manchester Mystics (8-9).
Costa dropped a team-high 16 points against the under-strength Bulls, who rolled with a seven player rotation in the loss.
One of the continued absentees was standout Judit Fritz, leaving Lindsey Cleary (36pts) to put up huge numbers despite her side coming up short.
Reading Rockets (2-14) aren't done quite yet, staving off their relegation fears for another week with a 63-57 W against Worcester Wolves (6-9).
In Sunday's only game, the Rockets led from tip to buzzer for their second win of the campaign as Kristina Karpova drained five triples on her way to a game-high 26 points.
3:30pm - Barking Abbey 64-66 Loughborough Riders - LIVE STATS
3:30pm - Endeavour Ipswich Basketball 75-63 CoLA Southwark Pride - LIVE STATS
3:45pm - Anglia Ruskin University 61-46 Cobham Cobras - LIVE STATS
5:30pm - Manchester Mystics 73-66 Brent Bulls - LIVE STATS / LIVE STREAM
1:30pm - Reading Rockets 63-57 Worcester Wolves - LIVE STATS
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Main image credit - Richard Leach
