by Esha Nayar
(Main Image Photo Credit: Luke Simcock)

Saturday saw CoLA Southwark Pride take down the Manchester Mystics 49-62 and move to the top of the WNBL D1 table after making the trip up North. The pre Christmas break matchup took place at the same time last season and resulted in a Manchester victory, which shook the league. 

Debra Wilson-Osuide from the visitors opened the game’s scoring with a quick wide open layup following tipoff. The minutes that followed held a similar fate of CoLA dominance as Manchester’s struggles lay in their defensive rebounding, allowing CoLA to take five offensive rebounds in the same possession. The guests would take an early eight-point lead, forcing Manchester Head coach Robert Fairley to call a timeout. His wisdom seemingly worked with Elizandra Costa drawing a shooting foul to take her to the free throw line, where she would drain both shots giving the hosts’ their first points of the game. Remi Idowu followed suit, sinking a layup giving the Mystics their first field goal of the game but it was Manchester’s bench that would elevate the score. Success Odemwingie contributed four points to the total with Kizzy Spence hitting a three at the buzzer to leave the score at 12-19 at the break. 

Manchester kicked off the second quarter scoring with a two-on-one Irene Oboavwoduo layup following an Odwmwingie steal. What was evident in the opening minutes of the second quarter was Manchester’s tough defence which was lacking in the first. CoLA’s lead would be cut down to one as a result of them waking up defensively. The guest’s scoring drought was broken by a highlight reel pull up jump shot off a spin move from Ayla Habbal in the fifth minute. The ball then found the bottom of the net for the visitors, forcing a timeout from the hosts. In the remaining minutes of the quarter, Adaora  Dioramma gave a strong six-point contribution to the score whilst dominating the boards. The Mystics closed the lead down to two thanks to the addition of five-points from Michelle Ortega. With 44 seconds till the half, Manchester’s Rehana Khalil committed her third personal foul, sending her to the bench. Her strong presence on defence would be missed, with CoLA extending their lead to five at the interval, making the score 26-31. 

The Mystics opened the second half with a fastbreak score, CoLA followed with a three-pointer. In what could be described as a scrappy start to the second half, both teams found scores. It would be a Habbal step back three to push Robert Fairley to a timeout with three minutes remaining and CoLA up by eight. The Mystics missed the strong defensive efforts from Nat Feurtado and Remi Idowu, their absence on the floor led to back-to-back scores from Dioramma, extending CoLA’s lead to 12 points. Manchester’s defence was switched back on, coinciding with Khalil’s substitution back into the game. The tourist’s lead was cut to nine, ending the quarter 37-46. 

CoLA’s lead was extended to double digits early on in the final quarter, they went on an 8-2 run in the first four minutes. An attempt to regroup was made by the hosts. Despite this, there was not enough time left in the game to cut down the double-digit lead. Irene Oboavwoduo put up 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 steals. Adaora Dioramma put up 20 point 17 rebound double-double on 64% shooting. 

Next Up:

Manchester Mystics host Worcester Wolves on Saturday Jan 4th.

CoLA host Brent Bulls on Sunday Jan 5th

Watch the full game back on Basketball England’s YouTube channel: