Loughborough Lightning regained top spot in the Netball Super League with an assured 71-59 win at home to second-bottom Leeds Rhinos.
Vic Burgess’ side are aiming to clinch a third consecutive title and looked to be warming to the task in this fifth straight victory.
Just one point separated the two sides going into the final five minutes of the second quarter before Lightning turned the screw in the ‘super shot’ period, outscoring Rhinos by nine points to two.
They moved further ahead after the break, ending the third quarter leading 54-39 at the Sir David Wallace Arena.
And while the visitors worked hard to reduce that deficit in the closing stages, Lightning always looked capable of capitalising on their greater shooting accuracy.
They finished with an 86% success rate, compared with Rhinos’ 82%, landing six more goals (46-43) and three more in the ‘super shot’ period (11-8).
The three points mean Lightning leapfrog former leaders London Pulse, who will be looking to wipe out the one-point deficit when they play their game in hand at fourth-placed London Mavericks on Sunday.
On Friday, Cardiff Dragons claimed their first win of the Netball Super League season as they beat Birmingham Panthers on Friday.
Having started the campaign with seven consecutive losses, the Dragons overcame a narrow half-time deficit to secure a 61-57 victory at the Skydome Arena.
The Panthers led 34-32 at midway point and were still a point up at the end of the third quarter.
It was level at 57-57 with five minutes remaining but the Dragons edged ahead through goal attack Phillipa Yarranton and she added a super shot to extend the lead.
Goal shooter Georgia Rowe, who top-scored for the Dragons with 39 goals, wrapped up the win for the Super League’s last-place side.
The Panthers had a marginally better shooting success rate, 86% to the Dragons’ 85%, with Sigi Burger scoring 46 goals, but were outshot 67 to 55 by the visitors.
Fixtures and results
Friday, 9 May
Birmingham Panthers 57-61 Cardiff Dragons
Saturday, 10 May
Loughborough Lightning 71-59 Leeds Rhinos – watch the full match back on BBC iPlayer
Sunday, 11 May
Nottingham Forest v Manchester Thunder (16:00)
London Mavericks v London Pulse (16:00)
Related topics
- Netball
Source: BBC
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