It was a successful weekend for Oaklands Wolves' three women's teams as they recorded a hat-trick of road victories.
Wolves' Super League extended their winning start to the season to five games as they won 69-54 at Leicester Riders, leaving coach Lee Ryan a happy man:
“It was an important road win for us to keep our momentum and push towards the top of the standings” he said. “It was a tricky game, both teams missing key players and not playing since before the international break meant we struggled to keep our rhythm over the four quarters. The goal was to come out early and take the control and we did that, lots of improvement needed as we head into a critical double header with Essex.”
Ryan's team led from tip to buzzer, and never looked back after a 10-0 start to the game, with Ella Fotu's triple getting them off the mark before back-to-back scores from Dani McCray and a Sam Ashby trey put them in charge.
Shanice Beckford-Norton also scored from downtown as Wolves led 24-13 at the first break, and they state comfortably ahead as four late points from Terri Battle sent them into the locker room with a 38-24 lead.
Beckford-Norton hit another triple to open the third period, and Riders never got any closer than 14 points before Battle sent them into the final break with a 51-35 advantage, and Ashby's three-pointer with three minutes on the clock wrapped up the victory.
Beckford-Norton and Battle led a balanced Wolves' offence with 12 points apiece, adding four and five rebounds respectively. McCray finished with 11 points and eight boards while Ashby added four rebounds to have 11 points.
Wolves are now second in the Super League table, a win behind Sheffield Hatters but with a game in hand. They travel to an Essex Rebels side who are joint fifth in the table with a 2-2 record on Saturday in what will be a dress rehearsal of the following weekend's SLB Trophy semi-final at Oaklands.
Beckford-Norton moved to the sidelines to coach Wolves' academy side as they moved up to joint spot in senior Division Two South with an 80-64 victory at Ipswich, on Sunday.
The visitors raced into a 14-7 lead after four minutes but the Ipswich closed out the period on an 18-2 run to open a six point gap and that grew to 33-22 with five second period minutes gone.
But three three-point plays from Caitlin Ryan dragged Wolves back into the game and the team's captain hit a buzzer-beater from outside the arc to take her first half tally to 22 points and cut the deficit to 45-43 going into the locker room.
The good run continued after the break with Scottish guard Darcey Woodman hitting three straight triples as Wolves opened a double digit lead with six minutes gone, and Wolves went into the final break with a 65-51 lead which the hosts never looked capable of eroding during the fourth period.
Ryan finished with a game-high 25 points, adding three rebounds, four steals and three assists. Woodman had 22 point, seven boards, four steals and three assists, while Paris Mitchell-Tyson added ten points and four rebounds.
Beckford-Norton's side face a big week with Elite Academy League game against Barking Abbey on Wednesday, a Division Two trip to Solent Kestrels on Saturday and then another senior game on Sunday when they host Thames Valley Cavaliers II.
The U-18 women, effectively an Academy second team with a couple of U-16 players, made it a winning weekend with a nail biting 52-51 victory at Brentwood Fire, on Sunday.
The visitors did most of the damage in the second period, outscoring Fire 23-12 to lead 38-28 at half-time, and they survived a frantic finish to the game to make it four wins from as many games. They face the only other unbeaten team, Brixton Topcats, at Oaklands on Sunday lunchtime.
Elise Beardsworth and Rianna Miller-Redondo each scored ten points for Wolves with Eunice Wong and Stephanie Tekam finishing with eight apiece.
Wolves men's sides couldn't replicate the successes of the women as they both lost at home against league-leading teams.
Liam Jefferson's Division Three side matched Birmingham City University in the first half, cutting a three point deficit at the first break to 32-30 at half-time, but a second half blitz from the visitors saw them go down 91-63.
Dan Kostadinov continued his good form with five triples in a team-high 17 points, with La'Quarne Sayles adding 15 points.
Anglian Ruskin University proved far too tough for the young NBL Conference team as they left Oaklands with a 123-44 victory, O Boyejo the only home player in double figures with 16.
Both men's teams are on the road this weekend with the Division Three side travelling to Warwickshire Hawks and the Conference team visit basement side Northamptonshire Titan
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