Three-point shooting goes astray in 60-53 defeat

MANCHESTER Met Mystics beat Leicester Riders women 60-53 to join them in a share of fourth place in the WBBL Championship.

Mystics made it five wins in their last six home games, with Lauren Thomas-Johnson scoring 14 of her game-high 21 points in the second half.

Mystics looked to be in control before the break as Erika Williams started and ended a 9-0 first quarter run with three-pointers, before hitting another pair of triples in an 8-0 start to the second stanza for a 22-11 lead.

At that stage Williams had 17 points on 5-5 from beyond the arc in the first half.

But Riders came back to tie the game with a 15-4 start to the third quarter, and despite the efforts of Thomas-Johnson in response, Riders led by one heading into the final five minutes, as Makana Stone scored four points in a row.

Thomas-Johnson then made the telling contribution, responding with five points in a row before former Rider Georgia Jones capped a 9-0 run, again holding Riders scoreless for three minutes, in what became a 12-4 finish to the game.

Riders’ Stone top scored with 18 points and added five rebounds and Brooklynn Mcalear added 16 points and five rebounds. Leicester’s Hannah Robb contributed 10 points and seven assists, but Leicester suffered with their normally accurate three-point shooting, making just four of 23, and they also made just one of five free throws.

Manchester’s Williams finished on 20 points with nine rebounds, while Dominique Allen was a big defensive presence with six points, nine rebounds and five steals.