WNBL Week 8 Round Up

The WNBL results for week 8 went as many would have expected with Cardiff Archers, Loughborough Riders and Sheffield Hatters all recording wins.

Cardiff Archers remain strong at the top of the table with a 19 point win over Barking Abbey, whilst Sheffield handed Nottingham Wildcats their second consecutive loss. Loughborough Riders held Team Northumbria to 8 points in the second quarter, helping them to a 9 point road win.

The closest of the three games played this weekend was between Team Northumbria and Loughborough Riders. The competition of the game was evident from the beginning, with Loughborough taking a narrow 4 point lead going into the second quarter. Northumbria were unable to convert throughout the second quarter, scoring just 8 points and despite a slower offensive quarter from the away team, they took an 8 point lead at half time. Despite showing improvement in the second half, Team Northumbria were unable to break the lead built by the Riders, who took a 9 point win taking them to 5-1 in the WNBL.

Head Coach Matt Harberr was happy with his team’s performance.

“We had worked really hard to be 4-1 coming into this game and we were determined to improve our league position and fight for our place in the top four,” he said.

“Northumbria are competitive and we knew coming in we would have to control the glass in order to win the game. There were times we didn’t do that, but we rebounded when it mattered and we pulled out a solid win”

Northumbria’s Thompson was the game’s top scorer with 15, with Spottwood adding 9. The Riders were led by Bratka (12) followed by Jones (10) and Westcott (10).

Barking Abbey travelled to Cardiff where a fantastic shooting performance from Jess Jenkins and a solid team performance throughout the game, saw another victory go onto the Archers unbeaten tally. Barking put up a good fight to open the game and won the first quarter, however a 26 point quarter for the Archers meant Barking were trailing by 9 at half time.

A good third quarter from Barking was not enough to turn the game around and a disappointing fourth quarter saw Barking remain without a win, taking Cardiff to 6-0. Jenkins led the Archers with 31, followed by Raven with 9. Roz Mason led Barking with 16, followed by 14 from Durojaye and McDerment.

Sheffield Hatters took on Nottingham Wildcats who had only just picked up their first loss against Loughborough the weekend before. Sheffield immediately took control of the game with 21 points in the first quarter while Nottingham struggled offensively with 7 points. Sheffield continued to dominate from their impressive first quarter, taking them to their fourth consecutive win. Helen Naylor top scored the game with 21 while Ritchie dropped 17 for the Wildcats.

Week 9 Preview

Looking forward to the weekend Manchester Mystics take on team Northumbria. Team Northumbria took a 13 point win over the Mystics in their last meeting and will looking to see their progression from their first meeting. Game of the week is top of the league Cardiff Archers and Nottingham Wildcats who will be hoping to return to the success they had at the start of the league after two recent losses.