
Makana Stone recorded her sixth straight double-double Saturday, lifting her English hoops squad to another win. (Photo property of Loughborough University)
The American Assassin abides!
Scoring the game-winning point for the second weekend in a row, Coupeville grad Makana Stone propelled her British basketball squad to another big win.
This time out the former Wolf drained a pressure-packed free throw with just seven ticks left on the clock Saturday, as Loughborough University held off Nottingham Trent 71-70.
With the win, the Riders head to winter break boasting a 5-2 record, 5-1 since Stone joined the lineup.
Loughborough is in a tie for second-place in the 12-team Women’s National Basketball League, a game back of Ipswich (6-1), a team the Riders upended last week.
This time out, Stone and her mates faced another rugged test, with Coupeville’s progeny emerging as the best player on the floor once again.
Despite some early foul trouble leaving her stuck to the bench, once she got back in the game, Nottingham had no real answer for the silky-smooth one.
She dropped in 12 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, while also snatching a team-high 13 rebounds and doling out four assists in just 26 minutes of action.
It was the sixth double-double in as many overseas games for Stone, who opened the tilt by pumping in the first basket of the afternoon.
From there, Loughborough bounded out to a 21-16 advantage by the first break.
Two early fouls left Stone out of play for a stretch, though, and Nottingham took advantage, using a 20-13 run in the second frame to net a 36-34 lead by the half.
Freed from her captivity, the double-double machine went off in the third quarter, ringing up nine points, though the Riders still trailed 53-52 headed to the final 10 minutes of action.
Robyn Ainge tickled the twines for a long three-ball (off an assist from Stone), however, staking Loughborough to a a 55-53 lead with just under nine minutes to play.
The Riders never trailed again, pushing the margin out to as much as six points, before Nottingham used a late 4-0 push to knot things back up at 70-70.
Enter Stone, exit any chance at Loughborough losing.
Through six games, the Cow Town hero has compiled 103 points, 95 rebounds, 13 assists, and 13 steals.
With winter break hitting in England, Stone and Co. will be off for three weeks now, with their next game Saturday, January 9 against Southwark.