London Lions Teach Durham Palatinates a 58-117 Lesson.
“Kiki” Herbert Harrigan Drops 20 Points, and Holly Winterburn Puts Up 15 Points to Help London Record their Seventh 100+ Points Victory
Be it the FIBA Euro Cup Womens or the WBBL’s multiple titles; the London Lions have been on a mission all season. Thus far, the now Stella Kaltsidou-led squad have completed two of their domestic goals, winning both the 2023 WBBL Cup and WBBL Trophy championships.
With their eyes on the prize, London entered their afternoon clash with Durham knowing a win against the North-East based students would place them one step closer to another domestic goal, the league title.
The Palatinates have recorded upsets against Caledonia and Essex earlier this season and pushed Newcastle to a single-digit victory and thus were capable of being the Lions’ proverbial banana skin.
However, although struggling to stay in the playoff race, the Durham Palatinates were not taken lightly by London’s focused squad, obliterating the students 58-117 in a one-sided victory.
Surprisingly, by the halftime break, Durham had outrebounded London 17-13. This was the only metric the Palatinates were leading in as London held the North-East side to an embarrassing 11% (1/9) from long-range and forced Durham into 12 turnovers.
The Lions combined for five 3-pointers in the first half (71%) whilst shooting 65% (17/26) from inside the arc. Holly Winterburn, Azania Stewart, Ty Battle and “Kiki” Herbert Harrigan, who put up 12 points in the first half, were also significant contributors to the Lions' gaudy 32 points in the point during the first two quarters.
2-Way specialist Taylor Murray equalled her WBBL career high in assists by the half, recording nine assists, more than the entire Durham squad. Katsiaryna Snytsina, who had nine points by halftime, also contributed four assists to the Lions' high IQ ball-sharing total.
Herbert Harrigan finished with a game-leading 20 points and became only the sixth player to score 300+ points in a single league season for the London Lions. The combo forward is also now the holder of the Lions’ single-season league scoring average record (18.8 PPG).
Holly Winterburn put up 15 points, whilst Snytsina and Shequila Joseph had 13 points apiece. Ty Battle, who had just four points at the half, finished with 12 at the end of the game.
