A bad weekend saw the Nottingham Wildcats lose both their home encounters with Leicester Riders and Cardiff Met Archers in the WBBL Championship.
Saturday saw the Leicester Riders pick up an away win to boost their chances of finishing in the top four, with a 78-91 victory over hosts Nottingham Wildcats.
Things looked promising for the Riders, who took a 10-point lead going into half-time but after a 10-2 run from the home side, the visitors suddenly found that lead cut down to just two points within the opening four minutes of the third period, thanks to February’s Player of the Month Brooklyn Pannell shooting seven unanswered points.
The Wildcats managed to hold Riders to just a three-point lead by the time the fourth and final period of the game commenced but with Riders outshooting the home side 27-17, the visitors managed to rack up a double-digit lead, enough to see them out until the final buzzer and give them their 12th league win.
Sunday the Wildcats host the Archers in the WBBL’s final tip-off of the weekend. Much like the first game of the day, the teams could barely be separated after a tight first quarter. Archers led 19-18 after the opening period.
Archers kicked on in the second, winning the quarter 24-19 to open up a six-point lead at half-time. Wildcats fought back in the third, scoring 21 points and limiting Archers to 19 to reduce the deficit to four. Archers played out the game well in the last to win 81-73.
Shannon Hatch scored a massive 33 points for the Archers whilst Lauren Saiki performed all over the court with an outstanding triple-double of 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
WBBL Championship
Nottingham Wildcats 78-91 Leicester Riders (16-19, 35-45, 61-64)
(Wildcats – Pannell 33, Gyles 19, Egharevba 13; Riders – Hamilton 22, Robb 21, Rouse 16)
Nottingham Wildcats 73-81 Cardiff Met Archers (18-19, 37-43, 58-62)
(Wildcats – Gyles 27, Pannell 19, Edmonds 14; Archers – Hatch 33, Marchizotti 17, Jorgensen 14)