WNBL Week 6 Round Up

By Ellie Shaxon on November 7, 2013

The top four ended the weekend with wins, as Cardiff Archers and Nottingham Wildcats remained unbeaten and Loughborough Riders and Sheffield Hatters improved to a positive winning record.

Sevenoaks took the trip to Cardiff, where a daunting task lay ahead of the away team. Cardiff quickly stamped their mark on the game with a 25 point first quarter. Despite showing massive improvement in the second quarter Sevenoaks went into half time with a 14 point deficit. Sevenoaks needed to carry on their second quarter performance; however Archers kept them to 10 and even with the Suns winning the fourth quarter by 6 it was not enough and Cardiff remain unbeaten winning 87-64. Jenkins led the Archers with 21, Raven followed with 18 and Collins had 15. Green led the Suns with 15.

After a disappointing loss against Cardiff last week, Northumbria looked to cause an upset at the home of the unbeaten Nottingham Wildcats. The home side took a narrow lead in the first quarter and continued to hold the lead by 8 points going into the second half. Northumbria struggled to break the lead Nottingham gained in the first half and despite the last quarter showing their best defensive effort of the game, they missed out on a win, losing 71-61. Richie led the scores for Nottingham for the second week in a row dropping 20, whilst Prior added 18 and Decane added 15. Spotwood led Northumbria with 25 and Hulme added 20.

The closest game of the weekend was between Loughborough and Barking Abbey, who are familiar with one another after going toe to toe in the Loughborough pre-season tournament and finishing tied.

The first half showed vast improvement from the young away team, as they kept Loughborough to just six points in the second quarter, taking a four point lead at half time. Barking struggled to keep their defensive momentum whilst Loughborough stepped up on both ends of the floor dropping 41 points in the second half. Barking came within 5 points in the fourth quarter but Loughborough held them off, winning the game by 8 points.

“I thought we played really tough today and had to fight for the full 40 minutes to get the win,” said Loughborough Head Coach Matt Harber.

“I was disappointed with our conviction on offence and we simply can’y have slumps like we did in the second quarter. We’ll keep working to be better and I think we’ll become a better offensive team as the year unfolds.

“Barking are better every time they step on the floor and they will find their first win very soon.”

BA Head Coach Mark Clark added:

“Pleased with our improved performance. As players return from injury and our new young players adjust to senior basketball we just need to focus on improving.

“Loughborough are good, well balanced and understand how to win. They are a contender for silverware.”

Maaja Bratka led the Riders with 21 whilst Georgia Jones added 14. Mary Durojay’s 14 and Roz Mason’s 13 led Barking.

Manchester Mystics travelled to Sheffield where they hoped to build on their first season win against Barking, However Sheffield had other ideas and after a massive 30 point first quarter the Hatters never looked back, going on to win the game 45-89. Naylor and Campbell both scored 21, with Steph Gandy adding 18. Mystics were led by Brown with 16.

“It was a tough loss in sheffield,” said Manchester Mystics Head Coach, Rob Fairley. “Our performance as a team was sub-standard at best, and playing a team such as Sheffield, bad decisions and little mistakes cost you dearly as the final score showed. We need to learn from this if we wish to compete with the other teams in Division 1.”

Weekend Preview

This weekend Northumbria host Sevenoaks who are still looking for their first league win whilst the home side will be looking to get back into winning form after two consecutive losses. Manchester will take on the unbeaten Cardiff Archers and Sheffield travel Barking Abbey who remain without a win so far this season. Nottingham will make the short journey to Loughborough in which the home side will be aiming to continue their unbeaten home record so far.

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