Makana Stone returned to play Saturday, recording another double-double to lead her British hoops team to its fifth-straight win. (Photo property Loughborough University)
It was a nice way to ease back into things.
Playing for the first time in a month-and-a-half, Coupeville grad Makana Stone and the Loughborough University women’s basketball team romped to a big win Saturday in England.
With the former Wolf throwing down her seventh double-double in as many games, tallying 18 points and snatching 15 rebounds, the Riders drilled winless BA London 77-62.
The victory lifts Loughborough to 6-2 on the season and pulls it just a half-game back of National Basketball League leader Ipswich (6-1), a team Stone and Co. have already beaten this season.
After closing out 2020 with back-to-back one-point victories, the Riders ended up sitting out longer than expected.
The standard Christmas break morphed into a COVID-related shutdown, as Britain’s Division One teams were sidelined after Prime Minister Boris Johnson instituted a nation-wide halt of most activity in response to new variations in the virus.
Now that basketball is returning to play, the league schedule has been tweaked, and at least one school, Bristol Academy, has chosen to end its season.
Loughborough will have another break, not playing again until Sunday, February 14, when it’s scheduled to match-up with the CoLA Southwark Pride.
Current plans call for the relaunched season to run through March 28, when the standings will be frozen.
After that, schools will be broken into two pools, with the top six in one group and teams #7-#11 in another.
Eight teams make the NBL playoffs, set to tip-off May 15-16, with the championship game the weekend of May 29-30.
Saturday, all the focus was just on getting back into the flow of actually playing games, something Stone and her Riders teammates had been awaiting.
With their opponent not having seen action since mid-November, and coming into play having lost all four of its games, opportunity abounded.
Consider the moment seized. Though maybe not as easily as expected.
Loughborough claimed its first lead at 3-1 on a Molly James three-ball, and never trailed again, but didn’t really pull away from BA London until midway through the fourth quarter.
Stone poured in 10 of her team-high 18 points in the opening frame, lifting the Riders to a 25-20 lead at the first break, but the Lions stayed competitive most of the day.
The two teams were tied 36-36 just before the half, and Loughborough’s lead sat at just 63-58 with a hair over three-and-a-half minutes to play in the game.
At which point the Riders put the ball in Stone’s hands, cheering as their American assassin banked in three buckets to spur a game-busting 9-2 run.
Coupeville’s progeny narrowly missed out on a triple-double, making off with nine steals to go with her 18 points and 15 boards.
She also dealt out two assists while playing nearly 34 minutes.
Stone was one of five Riders to net double-digit scoring totals Saturday, with Sasha Lecuyer (13), James (12), Robyn Ainge (11), and Kacey Cox (10) joining her.
On the season, Stone has racked up 121 points, 110 rebounds, 15 assists, and 22 steals.
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