Nottingham Wildcats hosted East Midlands derby when they took on Leicester Riders in the WBBL Championship
WBBL Championship
Nottingham Wildcats 64-69 Leicester Riders (14-17, 24-31, 42-47)
(Wildcats – Shumpert 36, Joyner 12, Costa 7 ; Riders – Winterburn 24, Oliver 14, Hinriksdottir 12)
Leicester Riders and Cardiff Met Archers both secured their first wins of their WBBL campaigns in a lively Saturday afternoon of basketball.
Riders raced into an early lead and finished the first ahead by three, a gap that Wildcats were not able to close all the way to the final whistle after a solid defensive performance from Riders. Holly Winterburn was the Riders star player finishing with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Kate Oliver was also key, contributing 14 with 8 rebounds.
Chelsey Shumpert put up a massive 36 points for the hosts however her efforts were not enough, and the Wildcats would go on to lose 69-64 in their second game of the season. It was the perfect start to the season for Riders who make it 1 win from 1 game to kickstart their campaign.
Cardiff Met Archers returned to winning ways following a loss to Wildcats last time out as they beat Manchester Met Mystics 72-67. A double double performance from Mara Marchizotti was the difference between the two sides as she finished the game with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
For the visitors, Ebony Horton supplied 18 points and 4 assists, but it would be Archers who would go home with the points and now have 1 win and 1 loss to their name. Mystics have the same record after two as well.
Report/ Image Source: WBBL