Manchester Basketball fell 64-61 in a closely fought affair with the Newcastle Eagles in the Super League Basketball Women’s Championship.

Frannie Hottinger recorded a double-double to lead Manchester in the game. She scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, going 8-15 from the field.

Tiarra East and Maaja Bratka also logged double-digit scoring performances, with Bratka almost getting a double-double of her own by grabbing 9 boards.

Manchester showed grit by digging themselves out of a big first-half hole on the road. They were trailing 41-26 at the half, but responded emphatically in the third quarter to make it a game late.

The visitors won the third 25-7 to storm into the lead with one to play. They scored 13 unanswered points in the third quarter kick-started by an East triple, then ended the period with back-to-back buckets to hold the lead with 10 minutes remaining.

Points proved hard to come by in the fourth. The first score of the quarter came two minutes in, as Newcastle cut Manchester’s lead to one.

Manchester looked to have a handle on the game midway through the fourth quarter, as Irene Oboavwoduo’s three put them up 59-51. But the Eagles hit back with an 8-0 run to tie the game with under two minutes left.

Jori Davis scored at the rim to snatch the lead back for Manchetser, but Newcastle scored five points in retaliation to give them a three-point lead.

The game-tying attempt fell to the hot hand, as Hottinger took a three with 14 seconds on the clock. But she couldn’t get it to go, and Newcastle just held on.

The loss meant Manchester fell to 6-8 in the SLBW Championship.

They return to the National Basketball Performance Centre on Sunday, April 12 at 6:00 pm to face the Sheffield Hatters.

You can get your tickets here.

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