Overtime heartache for Wolves

Oaklands Wolves hopes of competition in the British League play-offs hang by a thread after a 91-86 overtime loss against Essex Rebels on Saturday evening.

A capacity crowd at Sportszone saw a thriller but it will be little consolation to coach Lee Ryan as his side now travel to Durham on Saturday knowing they need to win and hope Manchester Giants lose at Newcastle later the same the day if they are to bag a place in the post-season.

Allison Day had a massive night for the hosts, finishing with a 33-point, 16-rebound double-double as she played the whole game, while Beth Sarson added 17 points and seven assists. Shaq Wade had 16 points to go with her six rebounds but it was a tough night for leading scorer Ri Thompson who was limited to 11 points and four rebounds as she also played all 45 minutes.

With a place in the post-season on the line, the home side could feel aggrieved about a couple of shot decisions down the stretch in regulation time but ultimately they had no answer to Dayzsha Rogan and Katherine Tudor who combined for 60 points for the Rebels

Wade opened the scoring for Wolves and they looked comfortable against the fifth placed visitors as Fab Zere gave them a 17-13 lead with three first period minutes on the clock before Rebels answered with 13 straight points and it took a Wade lay-up to cut the deficit to 26-19 at the opening break.

Wolves trailed for most of the second period before three-point plays from Day, Sarson and Claire Abbott tied the game at 40 before shots from Thompson and Day gave the home side a narrow 44-43 half-time lead.

Wade again hit the first basket to get Wolves off to a good start in the third period but with Thompson and Sarson splitting pairs of free-throws, Essex finished the quarter on an 8-2 run to lead 66-60 going into the fourth period.

Rebels stayed ahead until the 4:27 mark when Day's lay-up tied the game at 70. Claire Paxton put the visitors ahead at the foul line before Wade answered, only for Paxton to again hit a pair of free-throws. Day - inevitably tied the game with the final basket of regulation time, and although both Wade and Paxton had chances to win the game it went into an extra five minutes with the teams tied on 76.

Rogan opened the extra period scoring, only to draw a technical foul to allow Day to halve the lead but despite Day hitting a triple Wolves were never able to edge in front during the additional time until Day converted Sarson's assist to put her side up 86-84 with 77 seconds on the clock. Paxton levelled before Rogan hit a dagger three and Wolves were forced to foul to stop the clock as the visitors wrapped up the win.

Victory for academy team

Wolves' women's academy side had a productive afternoon as the produced a strong second half performance to beat Reading Rockets 74-44 in a friendly game.

Both teams gave valuable experience to some U-16 players with Elise Beardsworth, Lucy Claridge and Mackenzie Lewis debuts, and Wolves came back 28-27 half-time deficit to outscore the visitors 37-18 in the second half.

Captain Caitlin Ryan led the hosts with 18 points, seven rebounds, seven steals, three assists and as many blocks. Stella Piscstelli-Ekblad added 11 points, along with four rebounds and steals, while Sarah Adepoju hit three triple in her nine points. Amye Swinney also had nine points, with Grace Foster adding eight - including a buzzer beating trey to end the game - and Joanna Akpan pulling down an impressive 11 rebounds to go with her five points

Crunch time for Wolves' WBBL team

It's crunch time for Oaklands Wolves as they look to move towards a British League play-off spot when they host Essex Rebels on Saturday, 6pm.

Wolves are expecting a capacity crowd as they reduced to tickets to £1 each, and can be booked here Oaklands College Wolves vs Essex Rebels - Lokkaroom - Tickets

Following Saturday's 71-67 loss at Newcastle Eagles, Lee Ryan's team need to beat fifth placed Rebels to keep up their hopes of a place in the post-season.

Rebels, who will include former Oaklands forward Tia Freeman in their team are fifth in the WBBL table with nine wins from 17 games and need one more victory from their final three games to seal a top five spot.

Katherine Tudor leads the Colchester-based side with 17.4 points per game while Darcy Kay Rees averages a 13.6 point, 12.9 rebound double-double. When the sides met at Essex Arena in November an 18-point, ten rebound Shaq Wade double wasn't enough to prevent Wolves losing 92-77. 

A poor fourth period proved costly as Wolves went down to a narrow loss at Newcastle on Saturday evening, with the visitors being outscored 21-11 in the final frame. Wolves led by as many as 11 four minutes into the second half, but another 20-point haul from Ri Thompson couldn't prevent a loss against one of their rivals for a place in the play-offs.  

The hosts led by six midway through the first period but Allison Day got Ryan's team moving and three-pointers from Claire Abbott and Beth Sarson saw them take a 24-18 lead into the first break.

Wolves never trailed in the second frame with day and Thompson doing most of their scoring, and it was the latter who hit a jump shot to give them a 39-34 lead going into the locker room at half-time.

Wade opened the second half scoring, and a pair of Day jump shots saw Wolves' lead peak at 45-34 with 90 seconds to go, and although the hosts kept in touch, Thompson's and-one saw Oaklands lead 56-50 at the final break.

Day extended the advantage with the first score of the fourth period but Wolves' offence dried up as they went four minutes without the scoreboard moving allowing Eagles to reel off eight straight points and tie the game.                   

Day restored the lead before Sarson hit another trip to put Wolves 65-60 up with three minutes remaining Thompson made it a seven-point game with 2:23 on the clock. But that was the final time Wolves would score as Abi Lowe's triple launched an 11-0 run which gave Eagles the win.  

Thompson narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine rebounds, while Day had 16 points and eight boards before fouling out. Sarson finished with 11 points while Amy West had 12 rebounds to go with her four points.