London Lions claim WBBL Trophy for second piece of silverware

London Lions claimed their second piece of silverware of the season with a 81-70 win over Leicester Riders to claim the 2023 Betty Codona WBBL Trophy Final on Sunday in Glasgow.

Kiki Herbert-Harrigan was the star of the show, finishing with a WBBL Trophy record 33 points along with 7 rebounds, with ample back up from Holly Winterburn who finished with 18 points.

It marks the Lions’ third consecutive WBBL Trophy win.

“It feels great,” Lions Head Coach Stella Kaltsidou said on her first piece of silverware with the team since being hired in Feburary.

“To participate in a final and win a final and trophy it’s a great feeling.

“We were expecting the Riders to come out hard, they were really prepared for the game; that’s normal, as I said to the girls, it will be different to the Cup Final.

“We had to play to our plan and be physical for 40 minutes, because they stayed competitive to the end of the game. I want to congratulate them because that was a great game to watch.”

In a game that proved to be far more competitive than many expected, Riders had a lead early in the second half, but London responded and answered every run the rest of the way to secure the win.

A Hannah Robb lay up brought Leicester back in it to a 5-point game with 5:40 to play, but that was the closest they would get the rest of the way.

Leicester were led by a 22-point, 14-rebound double-double from Ashley Arlen.

Box score.

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