By Dave Ryan

Leeds Carnegie 87

 

Leeds Carnegie remain top of Women's Division One after an 87-71 victory against Barking Abbey - but it took a strong third quarter before the home side could wrap up the victory.

 

Led by 29 Natalie Stafford points, Barking led 24-15 at the first break and were still ahead 45-39 at half-time. A 27-10 third period put Leeds in control and although Barking outscored the hosts 22-15 in the final stanza, Carnegie held on stay top of the table.

 

Loui Hall led all scorers with 32 points for Leeds, with Tate adding 15 and Joanna Clayden 11. Jamilla Thompson hit 10 for Barking with Hattiett Yea finishing with nine.

Leeds coach James Bambury said: 

"I was very impressed with how well Barking started the game. They had a plan of attacking our guards and getting to the basket which they did frequently throughout the 1st quarter. 

"Stafford is a heck of a scorer and it is easy to see why she can put so many points on the board so quickly.

"I feel that in the 2nd quarter and leading into the 3rd our guards were able to keep people out of the key which triggered a lot of great defensive stands. Offensively it is great to see our offence beginning to click. 

"Our team is beginning to trust each other and it is paying off. We had multiple scores where the ball wouldn't touch the floor and after 4 or 5 passes we ended up with a layup. Those types of plays have little to do with individual talent and a lot more to do with great teamwork."

City of Sheffield Hatters 73
London Heathrow Acers 40

 

Third-placed City of Sheffield Hatters bounced back from last week's loss against Nottingham to hammer London Heathrow Acers 73-40 at home.

 

Led by 19 Shanna Oaddams points, Hatters rushed into a 15-2 first period lead and went into the locker room ahead 40-19 at half-time. A 10-9 third quarter saw Hatters' lead extended to 22 before Sheffield closed out the game with a 23-12 fourth period.

 

Millie Watkins added 18 for Hatters with Lisa Hutchinson finishing on 17. Claire Maytham (16) was the only Acer in double figures, with Rebecca Lear (8) and Lucimara Da Sila (7) completing the hosts' scoring.

 

 

 

UWIC Archers moved up to second spot with a pair of wins against newly-promoted sides who are still looking for their first victory in the top flight.

 

Led by 14 Meagan Hoffman points in her first game back this season due to injury, Archers hammered Birmingham A's 94-34 on Saturday, before returning from Wellingborough Phoenix with a 98-39 victory (view stats) on Sunday.

 

Archers built on a 20-6 first period lead against A's to go into the locker room 52-13 ahead. The game was over by the third break with Archers leading 73-24 and they closed out the win with a 21-10 fourth period to leave coach Damian Jennings a happy man:

 

"From a personal point of view I was incredibly pleased with the attitude and ambition of my team," he said.

 

"We are 100 percent focused on making improvements on a consistent basis. That is something we control and has nothing to do with the opponent in front of us.

 

"The exciting part is we still have an incredibly long way to go as a team, bedding in new players, bringing sync to our defence and truly understanding the offensive qualities of the teammates on the floor, and making sure we make the best decisions by those qualities."

 

Jennings did have praise for the A's, though, "Birmingham very bravely committed to the task in-front of them - there is no way anyone watching the game would say they did not play their part in this contest, regardless of the scoreline."

 

Danielle Yalland and Fiona Diffey completed the hosts' top scoring with 13 and 12 respectively, while Michelle Smyth led A's with 13 and Eszter Dalnoki-Nagy added six.

 

The following day in Wellingborough, UWIC jumped into a 14-2 lead early on, before Phoenix had a decent spell, closing the gap slightly towards the end of the first quarter going in trailing 22-12.

 

The visitors built on the lead in the second period pus with an 11-0 run midway through the quarter, on their way to a 46-20 halftime advantage.

 

As UWIC continued to steadily increase their lead throughout the second half a couple of bright spots for Phoenix were Naomi Sterling's display with 15 second half points, as she showed she has started to regain some of last season's form, and Stephanie Nicolas continued to show improvement at this level.

 

UWIC were led by Leah Dehaan with 17 points, Kate Butters and Sarah Wagstaff both with 16, and Meagan Hoffman had 15 points and 10 boards. Only Sterling hit double figures for the hosts with 15 points, as well as five rebounds, and three steals. Vicky Hinds added seven points with six rebounds and Nicolas five points and seven rebounds.

 

Phoenix coach Barry Powell was upbeat afterwards, "We are looking for signs of improvement every week, and again this week we showed indications that we are moving in the right direction. I am very proud of the girls' performance today, they battled away hard right til the end against strong opposition, and I am confident we will be in better shape for it in the weeks ahead."

 

Jennings was pleased with how his team played in the game:

 

"Double-header weekends are always tough because we plan out working week so carefully due to training frequency, intensity and of course the mid-week BUCS competition - ensuring that the full day of rest is crucial.

 

"That said, we always react well and make the corresponding adaptations to the week to ensure any accumulative fatigue is run out of our bodies in readiness for the week's training and the following weekend's game.

 

"Wellingborough clearly love playing at home. They came at the game with tempo and no inhibitions. We started the game a little timidly but kicked into gear in the 2nd quarter. It was great to once again rotate and see the depth of the programme go at staking a claim on their Archers future."