Sun goes down on Bunten bid for silverware

IT was a weekend to forget for Newcastle Eagles’ WBBL after they suffered a 80-58 quarter-final WBBL Cup loss to a strong Sevenoaks Suns at Sport Central, writes OSCAR MAUNG-HALEY.

While playcaller Chris Bunten’s side managed to keep the score close, even leading at half-time, they were ultimately unable to overcome a dominant third quarter from Sevenoaks.

Just a day earlier, Newcastle had been handed a brutal 82-60 loss at Nottingham Wildcats in the WBBL Championship.

Heading into the cup contest, Sevenoaks remained unbeaten in the WBBL - having previously beaten Bunten’s side 73-40 just over a week earlier.

Newcastle’s task of defeating one of the WBBL leading lights was made even tougher after Australian all-rounder Georgia Ohrdorf was ruled out with a concussion.

If the last contest between the two sides was a rather one-sided affair, this contest was a more even one - both sides trading early blows as they looked to gain the upper footing.

When the first buzzer went at the end of Q1, Bunten’s side found itself trailing narrowly 21-17.

Newcastle then showed their resilience as they fought their way back into the contest in Q2, Swiss international Giulia Simioni leading the charge.

The score was 40-38 in favour of the hosts at half-time.

The second period resembled the two sides’ previous contest - the visitors keen to show off their championship pedigree.

Newcastle fought hard in the first half but an early run of points in Q3 pushed Sevenoaks far out in front, the visitors outscoring Bunten’s side 21-5 to take a significant lead as the two sides entered the fourth quarter.

It saw Sevenoaks pull away, the visitors running rampant in front of a packed Sport Central with Newcastle having no answer to Sevenoaks’ skipper Catherine Carr, who top-scored with 24 points.