City of Sheffield Hatters survived a scare to remain top of Women's Division One with a 63-45 victory at Sevenoaks Suns.

 

The teams shared 24 first period points, but Suns outscored the visitors 16-10 in the second period to take a six point lead into the locker room at half-time.

 

However, newly-crowned National Cup Champions Hatters took control after the break, winning the third period 26-8 before wrapping up the win with a 15-9 final stanza.

 

UWIC Archers coach Damian Jennings was delighted after his team defeated Leeds Carnegie 103-81 in the battle of the teams who went into the weekend level in second place.

 

"I was incredibly impressed with our leaders today," he said. "Their focus and conviction to task was exemplary. The strength and resilience from beginning to end displayed how important this performance and result was to them personally and to us as a family."

 

However, Jennings still wants more from his team:

 

"This was undoubtedly our most complete performance to date but it was by no means without its pockets of error. What I think this game will do is keep us thirsty to ensure we revise our benchmark for an accepted performance and look to add to this in the coming weeks - we have not peaked yet and this is really important to remember!"

 

Archers made their intentions clear early in the game, rushing into a 32-14 first period lead and they increased that lead to 62-39 at half-time. They were pinned back to 76-60 going into the final period, but won the stanza 27-21 to take sole possession of second spot.

 

Kate Butters and Meagan Hoffman led all scorers with 26 apiece for Archers, while Mia Spasowska added 21. Loui Hall topped Leeds with 23, with Jo Clayden and Brykeesha Tate each adding 20.

 

Nottingham Wildcats moved up to third spot with a 97-31 (stats) hammering of Birmingham A's.

 

Jenny Burchill twice gave the visitors the lead in the early stages before Jessica Hurd launched an 8-0 run which gave Wildcats a lead they would never lose.

 

The home side were 23-11 up at the first break, and steadily built their lead in the second period to go into the locker room 46-15 ahead as the A's were limited to just four points in the stanza. A 28-10 third period ended the game and Wildcats wrapped things up with a 23-6 final quarter.

 

Siobhan Prior led all scorers with 21, while Jessica Hurd added 15. Caitlin Flood was a rebound shy of a double-double as she finished on 14 points, with Sabra Wrice and Laura Shanahan each finishing on 12 points in a game where none of the home players played for more than 29 minutes.

 

Burchill was the only A in double figures on 11, with Gemma Salmon scoring eight as her side continue to look for their first league win in the top flight.

 

Team Northumbria saw their hopes of home court advantage in the playoffs take a knock as they went down 73-63 at Barking Abbey.

 

Led by 40 points from Natalie Stafford, Abbey trailed 17-14 at quarter-time but recovered to lead 33-30 going into the locker room. An 18-16 third period saw Abbey extend their lead to five, and they doubled that in the fourth as the visitors were outscored 22-17.

 

England youth international Ella Clark finished with 20 points for Abbey, while Northumbria were led by Fiona Tozer (16), Zoe Vickers (15) and Ta'Yani Clark (13).

 

Brixton Topcats won the battle of London by beating Mets 65-49 to improve their chances of a playoff spot. Mets led 18-15 at the first break, and the teams shared 30 points in the second period as the home team took their three point lead into the locker room.

 

A 19-4 third period put Topcats in charge, and they closed out the win with a 16-12 final period.

 

Rochelle Davids led the Brixton scoring with 16 with Da Silva adding 14 and Biong 11. Marinova's 18 points for Mets led all scorers, with Taal and O'Milegan each scoring ten.

 

 

Feb 6 2010	UWIC Archers	103	v	81	Leeds Carnegie
Feb 6 2010	Barking Abbey	73	v	63	Team Northumbria
Feb 6 2010	Sevenoaks Suns	45	v	63	City Of Sheffield Hatters
Feb 6 2010	London Mets	49	v	65	Brixton Topcats
Feb 6 2010	Nottingham Wildcats	97	v	31	Birmingham A's Stats