Tickets are available for our next fixtures! Click HERE to get your tickets to Gladiators vs Wildcats next week, and HERE for our future BBL fixtures!
5th place Caledonia Gladiators travelled far south to take on the 11th placed Oaklands Wolves in a must-win WBBL Championship game for both teams. Miguel Ortega’s side were looking to put away last week’s road loss against Newcastle Eagles and cement their place in the top four, whilst Tor Freeman’s squad need to pick up the wins if they want to make the playoffs come May.
After winning the tip, Oaklands’ Grace George opened their accounts, making a jumpshot for the first bucket of the game – she has been a standout player all season long, averaging 17.8 points per game. After that, it was Gladiators who started off on the front foot, taking a lead as big as 10-2 before Oaklands came back into the game and started trading bucket for bucket with Caledonia thanks to the backing of their home fans. The travelling side however managed to push ahead, gaining a 17-26 lead after ten minutes.
Coming into the second quarter, Oaklands managed to push themselves back into the ball game after a few shifty defensive plays, resulting in a few points. They reduced the Scottish side’s lead to three points after three minutes of play. A few careless mistakes from the hosts allowed Gladiators to push forward in the game once again, that combined with well-worked offense from the Scottish outfit gave them some crucial makes, expanding their lead to ten points with four minutes to go until the half-time break. After twenty minutes of action, Gladiators maintained a 14-point lead into the locker rooms, 33-47.
Neither team especially came out of their half-time team talks flying, but it was captain Erin McGarrachan who got the Scots going with the first four points of the half, before Wolves’ captain, Cassidy Gould, hit one of her own to get them onto the scoresheet. Gladiators then got into their rhythm, building on their earlier gained lead and asserting dominance over the Wolves with mainly the same seven in the rotation throughout the first three quarters. An Abbie Wolf and-one with a minute to the play in the third outlined her team’s energy – giving #21 her 22nd points of the day. Despite the Wolves’ best effort on the court, and energy from the bench, after half an hour of basketball, Caledonia led 43-69.
With ten to play, the game was in the visitors’ hands, as they hoped to simply maintain their advantage. It certainly didn’t come without struggle, as Oaklands stood their ground and limited the Gladiators to just 4 points in the first five minutes – maintaining their energy from the bench. Gladiators brought in some of their younger talent, Zoe Sharpe, Kerry McGhee and Emma Kerr to conclude the win and seal the deal. At the final buzzer, Gladiators were ready to head just under 400 miles home with a 27-point victory, 54-81.
Following an impressive individual performance of 26 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists on 92% shooting, Abbie Wolf was awarded the game MVP, as she proved pivotal to the team’s victory.
Overall, Gladiators looked fairly comfortable throughout the encounter, not looking as if they would give up their lead at any point during it. Next up, you can catch the squad in their home fixture against Nottingham Wildcats a week today at the Lagoon, Paisley. Get your tickets HERE!
