City of Sheffield Hatters took a massive step towards retaining the Women's Division One title with a 79-64 victory at UWIC Archers.

 

Having also defeated Team Northumbria 85-44 on Sunday, Hatters are now a win ahead of Archers with a game in hand and also have the crucial head-to-head decider. Hatters now need just one win from their final three games to retain the championship.

 

Against Archers, Hatters rushed into a 23-18 lead after one quarter and extended that lead to 40-27 at half-time. Archers fought back to reduce the arrears to seven going into the final break, but Hatters regained the initiative to outscore the hosts 24-16 in the fourth quarter to take the victory.

 

Shanna Oaddams led the Hatters with 20 points, with Rosalee Mason adding 18 and Katie Crowley 13. Archers' Stef Collins led all scorers with 21, while Meagan Hoffman finished with 15 and Nicki Avery 14.

 

Having seen his side's hopes of winning the title effectively end, Archers coach Damian Jennings was a sombre man after the game:

 

"Obviously we are disappointed," he admitted. "I cannot fault my players on endeavour, they tried at all times. Perhaps if anything early on we tried too hard and that materialised into foul trouble that meant both Mia Spasowska and Stef Collins spent extended periods on the bench and late in the game we had 3 starters actually fouling out.

 

"Having started so well, going 10-5 up, I feel we simply failed to capitalise on opportunities created by some great stops and our change-up defense that caused all sorts of problems for Sheffield. Having scored 138 and 103 in the last two home games you don't expect to be going into half-time with only 27 points, but shots were just not falling!

 

"Credit must go to Sheffield and their dogged ability to make life incredibly tough at all times. Although we held Helen Naylor to an offensive low we struggled to prevent Oaddams making catches in easy finishing locations and she really caused the bulk of our problems from their perspective.

 

"With the acquisition of Ros Mason, Sheffield hold a roster with good balance across all spots with a workhorse-like bench that will take an A-grade performance to beat them - I just hope we get another opportunity to do just that."

 

The following day it was Millie Watkins who led the Hatters with 18 points as they made short work of Northumbria.

 

Vanessa Ellis' team rushed into a 24-13 first period lead, which grew to 41-22 at half-time. It was all over by the end of the third period as Hatters outscored the visitors 19-11, before they wrapped up the win with a 25-11 fourth quarter.

 

Oaddams added 14 for Hatters with Crowley chipping in with 13. Northumbria were led by Clark (14), Calder (12) and Scott (9)

 

Leeds Carnegie and Nottingham Wildcats remain in joint third place after wins against Wellingborough Phoenix over the weekend.

 

Leeds were first in action, and chalked up a 101-56 victory against the struggling Phoenix.

 

Carnegie came out ready to push the tempo of the game while rotating heavily, and rushed into a 10-0 lead Behind Loui Hall's six first quarter points. Leeds were 20-12 up at the first break and with Rian Mansaram and Becki Turner providing a lot of the scoring punch, combining for 12 points and 10 rebounds in the 2nd quarter alone, they were 48-28 ahead going into the locker room.

 

The second half looked much like the first as Wellingborough worked hard to keep the game close while Carnegie's bench proved to be a bit better on the day. 

 

A bright spot for Wellingborough came from their point guard Victoria Hinds as she was able to hassle both Carnegie point guards up and down the floor while contributing 10 points on the offensive end. Jordan Elliot-King was the leading scorer for Wellingborough making shots from both inside as well as outside. 

 

The lead grew to 75-41 at the final break before Leeds wrapped up the win with a 26-15 fourth stanza.

 

Hall led the way for Carnegie with 18, while Feher and Hayward were not close behind, scoring 16 and 14 respectively. Elliot-King finished with 14 points, with Selina Vernal and Hinds each scoring ten.

 

Leeds coach James Bambury was pleased with his team's performance:

 

"Any time you can score 101 points without a single person scoring more than 18, I think that is impressive," he said.

 

"Our entire team was able to contribute today on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor. We dressed 10 players and had a remarkable seven players reach double figures; I feel this proves the depth of our roster and how on any given day we have players who can step up and put the ball in the hoop. 

 

"We are extremely excited for the coming week and I urge anyone who is a fan of basketball to come watch the BUCS final eight next weekend."

 

It didn't get any better for Phoenix the following day as they suffered their third hammering at the hands of Wildcats this season, going down 95-28.

 

Caitlin Flood was the star for Nottingham as she matched the visitors' points total, and she opened the scoring from downtown as Wildcats led from tip to buzzer.

 

Wellingborough's Crystal Sterling wrapped up the first period scoring, but her side trailed 30-8 at the first break, and went into the locker room 53-15 down at half-time.

 

Wildcats won the third period 23-9 before wrapping the win with a 22-4 fourth quarter.

 

Sabra Wrice finished with 26 points for Nottingham, and both Flood and Wrice had seven rebounds and four assists, with the latter also having nine steals. Jessica Hurd completed the Wildcats' leading scorers with 12 points, while Sterling was the only Phoenix player in double figures with ten.

 

Northumbria remain in fifth place after being given a walkover against Birmingham A's, but Barking Abbey are now closing in on them following an 82-44 hammering of Brixton Topcats.

 

Led by 23 points from Harriet Yea, a Barking side missing the league's leading scorer Natalie Stafford jumped out to a 25-9 first period and raced into a 48-21 lead at half-time.

 

A 16-8 third period ended the game as a contest before Abbey wrapped up the win with an 18-15 final stanza. Ella Clark added 14 for the home team with Christina Gaskin finishing on 12. Rodriguez led Brixton with 11, while Davids added nine.

 

 

Mar 6 2010	Team Northumbria	20	v	0	Birmingham A's
Mar 6 2010	UWIC Archers	64	v	79	City Of Sheffield Hatters
Mar 6 2010	Leeds Carnegie	101	v	56	Wellingborough Phoenix
Mar 7 2010	Nottingham Wildcats	95	v	28	Wellingborough Phoenix  Stats
Mar 7 2010	Barking Abbey	82	v	44	Brixton Topcats
Mar 7 2010	City Of Sheffield Hatters	85	v	44	Team Northumbria