Leicester Riders won their fifth game on the bounce with a road victory against Manchester Giants.
In her third straight 20 point outing, Taylor O’Brien led the team with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 30 minutes.
Rayven Peeples continued her dominance on the glass, which has spanned all season, with a monster 15 points and 17 rebounds on the game.
The Riders led from the opening quarter, and controlled the game throughout. Led by Peeples, they outrebounded the Giants 62-28 in the game.
Brooklynn Mcalear-Fanus led the Giants with 20 in the host’s defeat. Manchester shot well from three, hitting 40% of their attempts, but couldn’t keep Leicester off the glass throughout.
The Riders endured a slow start, falling in a 5-0 hole before O’Brien’s three from the top of the arc took the lid off the basket for the visitors. Marsissa Hamilton, following a 5/5 night from three on Friday, followed her up with a triple of her own, giving the Riders the lead in a quick swing.
The threes settled the Riders down, and they took control of the first quarter. They established the paint, led by six points from Rayven Peeples, and led the first 26-17 after a relentless attack of the rim throughout the period.
O’Brien took over the start to the second with 5 quick points, making her points tally 12 with seven minutes left in the half. Young star Erin Powell also put five on the board to bring her total to seven, and Leicester extended their lead.
O’Brien’s hot first half meant the Riders won the second period 23-15. Peeples bossed the boards with 10 rebounds at the half, contributing to 10 offensive rebounds for the team as they owned the inside. The score was 49-32 at halftime- the Riders in control.
Sam Ashby got the second half underway with a three to set the tone in the third quarter. The sides exchanged buckets, but the Riders held their opponents 20 points away.
The Giants did chip into their deficit with four minutes left in the third, as Idil Turk hit back-to-back from deep to make it a 14 point difference. But Peeples got work out of the resulting timeout, making a tough bucket at the rim in response.
They went 8-0 started by Peeple’s bucket, before the quarter was ended by another Turk three to make it 70-51.
Boasting a big lead, the Riders saw the game out professionally. Ashby, Peeples and O’Brien shouldered the scoring load, and Leicester won the fourth 22-16 to improve their record to 11-2.
