Oaklands Wolves women's teams record three away 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, [but there's] 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 stayed 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.

Shanice Beckford-Norton (Image: Supplied)

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 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.

Caitlin Ryan in action against Ipswich (Image: Supplied)

The Under-18 women, effectively an Academy second team with a couple of Under-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.

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.

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 Titans II.

Albert Dye hit a game winner with 0.7 seconds on the clock as Wolves Under-16 Conference side won a thriller 87-85 against Bedford Thunder on Saturday.

The visitors had the ball with the game tied and 22.6 seconds remaining, but some tough defence saw the hosts force a turnover with 6.4 seconds on the clock and Dye let it tick down before sinking a lay-up to win the game.

Earlier, the hosts had let a big 37-21 first period lead slip as Thunder made it a three-point game at half-time, and although Wolves took the advantage out to 63-56 at the final break, the teams exchanged the lead several times down the stretch before Dye's late basket sealed the win.

There was also success for the Under-14 Premier side who kept up their play-off chase with an 83-38 victory at Brentwood Fire thanks to dominant second half.

George Walker's team led 20-11 at the first break before being pegged back to 34-27 at half-time. But a 38-5 third period saw them take control of the game and they wrapped things up with an 11-6 final frame.

In contrast the Under-14 conference team matched visitors Stevenage Royals for the first three periods, going into the final break 41-40 ahead before being outscored 30-4 in the last quarter to lose 70-45.

There was also derby disappointment for the Under-16 Premier team who went down 89-65 at West Herts Warriors, with a 34-15 third period from the hosts proving crucial.

The Under-12 boys A team suffered their first loss of the campaign with a 65-56 defeat at Bracknell Cobras while the Under-14 girls are still searching for their first victory of the season following a narrow 66-58 defeat at high-flying Kingston Lions.