Oaklands Wolves coach Lee Ryan is looking for a big crowd to help his side reach their first major final as they host Essex Rebels in the Super League Women's Trophy semi-final on Saturday.
"The semi final game is massive" he said. "It’s a huge moment for us as an organisation and gives us a great opportunity to make a final for the first time in our history.
"Essex showed us in last weekends championship game that they have the players to hurt us and it will be a tough battle between the teams, our home crowd could be the difference so hoping to see everyone there to cheers us all the way to Birmingham!"
Wolves were members of the Super League's predecessor the WBBL for eight years, but Saturday will be their first semi-final game, and they will be looking for a repeat of their win in last week's league game against Rebels.
In Saturday's 85-73 victory at Essex Arena, the home side had no answer to Dani McCray as she poured in 25 points, adding nine rebounds, five steals and two assists. Shanice Beckford-Norton finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Abigail Rafferty added seven boards and two assists to her 12 points.
Wolves found it tough going in the first half, and McCray's three-point only cut the deficit to 26-22 at the first break before Rebels outscored them 24-16 in the second quarter to lead 50-38 going into the locker room.
Whatever Ryan said at the half-time interval clearly worked and five McCray points plus four form Beckford-Norton in a 9-0 run saw the gap closed to 53-47 with four minutes gone.
A Beckford-Norton and-one kept Wolves in touch before a Raffety lay-up and a Sam Ashby triple saw Wolves take a 61-60 lead with 71 third period seconds on the clock, and McCray's basket sent the visitors into the final break 63-62 ahead.
The opening six minutes of the fourth period proved key as Terri Battle hit five points and three straight Beckford-Norton free-throws capped a 16-3 run which effectively sealed the victory for the visitors.
There was also success for both of Wolves' men's sides as the Division Three team won 70-62 at Warwickshire Hawks and the Conference team defeated hosts Northamptonshire Titans II 69-56.
In a tight game throughout, Liam Jefferson's team led 14-12 at the first break but went into the locker room trailing 29-28. A 16-12 third quarter saw Wolves take a three point lead into the final break before wrapping up their third win of the campaign with a 26-21 final frame.
Lore Adekeye led Wolves with 22 points, while three-point assassin Dan Kostadinov added 16 and recent signing Deji Adekunle 14
A strong second half in Northampton saw a young Wolves side move up to sixth place in Pool 3. Having trailed 29-27 at half-time, Wolves tid the score at 45 going into the final period where they outscored the hosts 24-11 to wrap up the win.
Wolves were led by 21 Kajus Gasperas points, with Stanley Mills adding 21 and Tristan McIntosh 11
It was a disappointing weekend for Wolves Division Two women's side as a pair of narrow defeats dented their play-off hopes.
They came up just short despite a late comeback at Solent Kestrels, going down 62-60 on Saturday, before finding an experienced Thames Valley Cavaliers side too tough as they lost 54-44 at home.
Wolves were 14-9 down after five minutes but added only two points in the rest of the first period to trail 22-11 at the first break. They narrowed the gap to 36 -29 at half-time and were within a point midway through the third quarter. But Kestrels took the lead back out to 53-44 at the final break and were 58-51 ahead with five minutes left before Wolves came up just short with their comeback.
Amye Swinney led Wolves with a season-high 22 points, while Caitlin Ryan had a 17 point, 15 rebound double, adding four steals, three assists and as many blocks before fouling out with 2.1 seconds on the clock. Darcey Woodman just missed out on a double-double with ten points and nine rebounds.
Woodman's 15 points the following weren't enough as Cavs led throughout the game to inflict Wolves' second loss of the weekend.
A slow start saw Wolves trail 8-2 after five minutes, and they were playing catch-up all game before going into the final break 39-29 down. They managed to get within four points with three minutes on the clock before Cavaliers finished strongly.
Rhiana Redondo had 11 points and eight rebounds while Ryan had 11 boards, five assists and two steals.
It was a busy weekend for the Wolves academy as the U-18 women won their top of the table clash against Brixton Topcats 59-46.
Both teams went into the game with perfect 4-0 records, and Wolves shaded the first period 14-12 before blowing the game open with a 20-7 second quarter to take a 17 point lead into the locker room. Wolves' lead peaked at 22 points midway through the third period but Topcats fought back and got within five points down the stretch before three Imogen Baker baskets saw Wolves seal the win a move clear at the top of the table.
Baker led Wolves with 14 points, with Katie Nicholson adding 12. .
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