Oaklands Wolves produced arguably their best ever performance in their short history as they trounced Cardiff Met Archers 95-36 in the WBBL.
It was nothing short of a clinical dissection against their shell shocked Welsh visitors and proved that last week’s victory against Nottingham Wildcats, hailed by the league as an upset, was anything but.
It also continued their fine form over the previous four games which, apart from a blip against BA London Lions, has seen them win every one.
Such was their dominance that all 10 of their roster scored with the points being shared fairly equally around the team.
They hit 31 points in the first quarter, and charged into a 24-point lead, and didn’t look back.
Yes, Cardiff played a day earlier on their own court, suffering a demoralizing defeat to bottom club Essex Rebels, and yes, the journey would not have helped their aching bodies.
But make no bones about it, this was a simply stunning display of champagne basketball from the Wolves.
They hit almost every shot as well as clinching rebound after rebound, both on offence and defence, as well as picking up blocks and steals aplenty.
By half-time they led the rebound count 32-20, the steals 10-3 and had three blocks to Cardiff’s one.
The most important stat was the scoreboard which had seen their 31-7 lead extend to 57-14, with Cardiff’s woes compounded by the departure of Paulina Kutycka with a suspected knee injury.
Time-outs during the first half saw head coach Lee Ryan praise the intensity around the court from Oaklands.
He would have therefore been delighted with the way they came out after the break.
Cardiff enjoyed more possession but on a number of occasions they ran out of time on the shot clock as Oaklands built an impregnable defensive wall.
At the other end the points continued to rack up as, even if the scoreboard did slow down somewhat.
Their domination continued with the lead growing to a whopping 79-21 by the close of that period.
Perhaps understandably their performances levels eventually took a dip in the final quarter and Cardiff managed to maintain the gap in the opening five minutes of the final quarter, the teams grabbing nine points each.
But from the end of the third period there was only one thing on the mind of the Sportszone crowd, could they get to the century mark?
In the end the magic moment proved just a step too far but that will not take the pleasure away from the victory.
Oaklands Wolves: Freeman 13, Milligan 13, Schluter 12, Pritchard 10, Sarson 10, Rustamzada 10, Boros 9, Harrison 9, Wharton 5, Lee 4.
Cardiff Met Archers: Dukic 10, Lewis 8, Jorgenson 6, Wagstaff 6, Shanahan 4, Jones 2.
Q1: Oaklands Wolves 31 Cardiff Met Archers 7
Q2: Oaklands Wolves 57 Cardiff Met Archers 13
Q3: Oaklands Wolves 79 Cardiff Met Archers 21
Q4: Oaklands Wolves 95 Cardiff Met Archers 36
Rebounds: Oaklands Wolves 60 Cardiff Met Archers 36
Steals: Oaklands Wolves 13 Cardiff Met Archers 11
Blocks: Oaklands Wolves 4 Cardiff Met Archers 3
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