There was a Super Saturday in the WBBL Championship with ten teams in action on a potentially important day in the Play-off race, as all of the teams from 8th – the final post-season slot – to 13th played.

Highest up the table, third-placed Sheffield Hatters improved to a 13-3 record after coming through overtime to beat form team Nottingham Wildcats 87-80 at home, in a typically tight clash between old rivals, both teams with past Championship titles to their names.

Hatters led by double-figures in the first quarter as Georgia Gayle scored eight points and Ebony Horton hit 14 in the first half; and despite the visitors coming back to temporarily lead, Helen Naylor scored on the half-time buzzer before Sheffield opened the third period on a 12-2 run, holding Wildcats scoreless for six minutes as Marl Stewart scored five points and they led 55-44 on her three-pointer.

Despite looking out of the game, Wildcats finished on an 11-3 surge in the final three minutes, leveling it up with 11 seconds to go on a step-back three-pointer from Molten WBBL Player of the Month for February, Brooklyn Pannell.

But Hatters regained control in the extra period, led by their Great Britain international point guard Nicolette Fong Lyew Quee as she made a key three-pointer and followed it with an ‘and-one’ play to make the score 79-74 with two minutes left, scoring 12 of her 15 points in overtime.

Horton led Hatters overall, with 21 points, six rebounds, and four assists while Pannell top scored with 21 points with 2 assists and 3 rebounds.

WBBL Championship
Sheffield Hatters 87-80 Nottingham Wildcats (28-19, 43-42, 55-49, 71-71)
(Hatters – Horton 21, Fong Lyew Quee 15, Gayle 14; Wildcats – Pannell 21, Gyles 13, Egharevba 13)
(After overtime)

Report/Image: WBBL