National Basketball Performance Centre, Manchester, 2.00pm Sat February 13th
The Manchester Met Mystics will host the Nottingham Wildcats on Saturday in what will be their first home game of the year after taking a break from competition due to COVID-19 concerns.
Currently sitting in seventh place in the standings at 1-1, the Mystics will be looking to replicate the form from their first home game, an 82-56 win, against Newcastle in December. A solid all around team performance saw all Mystics players getting court time and contributing to the scoring. A strong game from Georgia Jones who had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals saw her take home the Brand161 and Bondi Bowls MVP award. Helen Naylor and Rheanne Bailey added in 12 and 11 points respectively while Nicolette Fong Lyew Quee dished out 8 assists.
Nottingham travel to Manchester coming off the back of a 94-74 loss to BA London Lions at the end of January. They will be hoping to improve their win loss record to .500 from their fourth place 2-3 in the standings.
The last time these two teams met was in November’s WBBL Cup game, which saw a shorthanded Mystics roster fall to Nottingham 101-75. An epic performance from Wildcats guard and centre duo of Chelsey Shumpert and Jasmine Joyner saw them combine for 66 points and 28 rebounds. Despite a flurry of 3 point shooting the Mystics struggled on the boards and to score inside.
This time around Mystics Centre and GB international Hannah Shaw, will be one of the keys to scoring in the paint and reducing Joyner’s impact. Shaw shot 87% for 14 points in just over 11 minutes in her last appearance against Cardiff. New recruits for this season, Sophia Song (University of California Davis) and Maia Bratka (Worcester Wolves WNBL 2019-20), will provide additional help in the post. Song’s defensive intensity was on display during her time in California and Bratka was named the WNBL D2 North MVP at the end of last season.
Nottingham will be hoping to contain Manchester from beyond the arc, with Jones, Song and Ebony Horton all shooting over 40% from 3 this season.
Manchester Met Mystics home games are streamed live on the Brand161 YouTube channel and the Mystics MVP award presented by Brand 161 & Bondi Bowls will follow post game.
Game Stream:
FIBA Livestats: https://www.fibalivestats.com/u/WBBL/1775714/
Bondi Bowls deliver Aussie inspired, plant based, naturally gluten free bowls to your door in Manchester City Centre: www.bondibowls.co.uk / Instagram: @bondibowlsuk
Brand161 are a Basketball apparel and team wear clothing brand from Manchester: Instagram: @brand161mcr / Twitter: @brand161mcr
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