Manchester Basketball took an 88-66 road win against the Nottingham Wildcats in the Women’s Super League Basketball Championship.

Maaja Bratka led Manchester to the win with 20 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. She put in the work on both ends, blocking three shots and stealing the ball twice in a stat-sheet stuffing outing.

Bratka was supported by Frannie Hottinger’s 17 point and 8 rebound night, and Irene Oboavwoduo’s 17 points.

A fourth-quarter explosion gave Manchester a commanding advantage by the final buzzer. The game was in the balance, with the visitors up seven with 10 minutes to be played, but Manchester won the fourth 25-10 to put a vice grip on their control of the fixture.

Manchester dominated defensively with 18 steals, forcing Nottingham into 30 turnovers on the night. Veera Pirttinen led the charge in that statistical category, snatching the ball from the Wildcats five times.

On offence, Manchester played physical basketball to take 25 foul shots on the night. They had most of their scoring success at the rim, where Bratka was dominant throughout the game. Georgia Anderson hit 10 points to move her to joint leading scorer of all-time in the British league... she now needs one to break the record.

The win improves Manchester to 1-1 in the standings early in the Championship season.

Manchester are next in action against the Leicester Riders on Sunday, November 23. The game will be played at the National Basketball Performance Centre, with the tip-off time yet to be confirmed.

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