WNBL Round Up - Week 3 - Hoopsfix.com

WNBL Round Up – Week 3

The weekend saw only one WNBL game as first round National Cup fixtures took place for many Division One teams, in which all winners progress to Round Two, joining last year’s semi-finalists Sevenoaks Suns and Northumbria, as well as reigning champions Sheffield Hatters.

Cardiff Archers picked up their first home win in a tightly fought battle with Loughborough Riders on Sunday afternoon. Archers took their home court advantage in the first quarter with a five point lead over the Riders, who replied with a massive thirty one point second quarter to lead the game 43- 37 at half time.

The Archers quickly responded with only two points separating the teams going into the fourth quarter. Despite big performances from Riders returning players Bratka and Makenzie Westcott, the Archers won the fourth 21-13, giving them a six point win and their first win of the season.

Archer’s player/coach Stef Collins was thrilled with the win:

“The re-structure gives more incentive in making every win count and with the combination of new signings Jessica Jenkins and Emilie Ravn, with club veterans Sarah Wagstaff, Kate Butters and Kasey Jennings our mentality is to improve on last season’s efforts”.

Jessica Jenkins led the Archers with 27, followed by 17 from veteran Kate Butters and 10 from GB international Collins.

Week 4 Preview

This weekend is the first with all eight teams in action as the season gets into full flow.

Both the Archers and the Riders in action again, with the Archers looking to build on their home win with a trip to reigning league champions Sheffield Hatters. Riders will play their first home game of the season, facing Sevenoaks Suns, who will be looking to improve on their loss against Nottingham in the first weekend of the season.

Early league leaders, Nottingham Wildcats, take on Manchester Mystics at their Nottingham arena and will both be competing for their second win of the season.

“We are looking forward to playing against Nottingham this weekend,” commented Manchester Head Coach Rob Fairley. “Nottingham are known to be a top-class club who keep attracting many foreign players to play for them. We are currently on a high, winning our previous two home games and are hoping that the confidence gained can be carried over to this weekend.”

Northumbria will make the long away trip down to London facing Barking Abbey.

“It will be a tough game facing Northumbria,” said BA Head Coach Mark Clark, looking ahead to the weekend. “Their win over Manchester and their narrow loss to Sheffield shows that they are in good shape early in the season.

“We always have to focus on our performance in the early weeks of the season as we also have the new class stepping up to Division 1 level. The performances so far have been promising despite a disappointing result against Manchester Magic.

“I fully expect the challenge of Northumbria will bring the best out of our experienced players and I am confident we will continue to improve our performance. If we can keep Northumbria off the boards and keep the tempo high I feel our performance level could get us the win.”

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