City of Sheffield Hatters showed they won't give up their Women's Division One crown without a fight as they won the top of the table clash against Leeds Carnegie 99-83.

 

The result ended Carnegie's perfect start to the league season and saw Hatters move above their Yorkshire rivals at the top of the table.

 

Led by 26 Rosalee Mason points, Hatters were 20-19 after the first quarter and extended that margin to 51-45 at half-time. The third period proved pivotal as Hatters outscored the visitors 23-14 to take a 15 point lead into the final break, and a 25-24 fourth period sealed their ninth win in ten games.

 

Helen Naylor added 20 points for Sheffield, with American Shanna Oaddams finishing on 18. Joanna Clayden and Loui Hall each scored 19 for Leeds while Brykeesha Tate chipped in with 18.

 

Meanwhile, UWIC Archers moved up to third with a 65-59 victory (view stats) at Nottingham Wildcats. The result gave the Welsh side revenge for their loss in the National Cup semi-final on the same floor a week ago.

 

The hosts looked to be on the way to a quick-fire double against UWIC early in the game as they rushed into a 21-8 first period lead - outscoring the Archers 14-2 in the last six minutes of the quarter, with UWIC going six minutes between points.

 

However, UWIC held them to just eight points in the second period and it was Nottingham's turn to see a prolonged drought as they went just over eight minutes without troubling the scorers. In contrast UWIC added 19 points of their own and were level before Caitlin Flood scored with eight seconds remaining to send her side into the locker room with a 29-27 lead.

 

A tight third period saw the lead repeatedly change hands, with the biggest margin being a six point Archers lead following a pair of Meagan Hoffman free-throws with 58 seconds remaining. Scores from Flood and Siobhan Prior cut the Archers' lead to 46-44 heading into the final period.

 

Archers never trailed again and a pair of Kate Butters free-throws saw them extend their lead to ten at 56-46 with 4:56 on the clock. A Jessica Hurd shot off Flood's assist saw that lead cut to one with 91 seconds remaining, but three Stef Collins points followed by a Nicki Avery free-throw sealed the Archers win.

 

Prior finished with 26 points for Wildcats, but American pair Flood and Sabra Wrice were restricted to 13 and 11 points respectively - with each player also collecting seven rebounds in 40 minutes of action.

 

Collins led Archers with 18 points, while Hoffman had a 12 point, 13 rebound double-double and Mia Spasowska also finished with 12 points.

 

Archers coach Damian Jennings was a happy man after the game:

 

"Retribution did not seem to be on the cards as the first quarter unfolded. We had worked hard on neutralising Sabra and Caitlin but were slow to react to Siobhan heating it up," he said.

 

"However from the second quarter onwards I was extremely proud of how we dug very deep and chipped our way back into the game, having been 16 points down at one stage. 

 

"We did alter our defences but it was simply an incredible team effort, strengthened by self-belief and a sheer determination to right the wrongs of our current form that saw this dogged game to its finale in our favour.

 

"We needed this and I am incredibly proud and pleased with the ladies' eventual performance."

 

London Heathrow Acers remain the top club from the capital as they defeated cross-town rivals London Mets 61-50. Led by 20 Lear points, the Acers were 15-7 up at the first break, and extended that lead to 40-20 going into the locker room.

 

They were restricted to just four points in the third period as Mets added 14 of their own to make it 44-34 going into the final quarter, but a 17-16 fourth stanza wrapped up Acers' fourth win of the campaign.

 

Lear added 16 rebounds to her 20 points, with Lucimara Da Silva grabbing her own double-double with 13 points and 18 boards. Former England player Claire Maytham added 13 for Acers. Mets were led by Elena Panayotova on 15 points and 11 rebounds and Hannah O'Milegan on 13.

 

In other games, Birmingham A's and Wellingborough remain winless after respective home losses against Brixton and Barking Abbey. The A's lost by 4 (65-61) to the Topcats, and the Phoenix were beaten 59-45 by Barking Abbey.

 

 

Dec 19 2009	City Of Sheffield Hatters	99	v	83	Leeds Carnegie
Dec 19 2009	Birmingham A's	61	v	65	Brixton Topcats
Dec 19 2009	London Heathrow Acers	61	v	50	London Mets
Dec 19 2009	Nottingham Wildcats	59	v	65	UWIC Archers View stats
Dec 20 2009	Wellingborough Phoenix	45	v	59	Barking Abbey View stats