Leicester Riders, London Lions to meet in WBBL Cup final

Image credit: Mansoor Ahmed / ahmedphotos

The winners of the last two editions of the WBBL Cup will meet in next month’s final after London Lions and Leicester Riders both won their semi-final encounters, on Sunday.

London had extended their unbeaten domestic run to 47 games with a 69-84 victory over Sevenoaks Suns to continue their title defence, while Leicester had to battle past Essex Rebels for a 83-69 success.

The 2021 winners were led by Hannah Robb with a game-high 18 points with Emma Fee adding 15 points off the bench with six of seven shooting. Mckenzie Johnston had an all-round contribution of 11 points and 12 assists as well as five rebounds and five steals.

Box score.

The Riders made their move with a strong start to the fourth as they turned a two-point game into a double-digit lead with a 12-2 run.

Essex had led 11-16 in the first quarter, but the hosts put together a 13-0 close to take the lead. The gap would just be two points at half-time and remained the case going into the pivotal final period as the Rebels came up short in their quest of a first final in the WBBL.

Earlier, Kiki Herbert-Harrigan had top scored with 15 points in a balanced effort with Kat Snytsina adding 14 points, while Holly Winterburn dished out 11 assists to go with seven points in the Lions win.

Box score.

Mark Clark’s side pulled away in the second quarter at Surrey Sports Park with 30 points to open up a 12-point lead after Sevenoaks had edged a cagey first 10 minutes.

The Lions stretched their lead to as many as 22 points in the second half and there was no way back for Sevenoaks.

Next month’s final in Birmingham will mark the first time a team has won the competition for a second time having previously been six different winners in six seasons.

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