London Lions 4th Quarter Charge Stops La Roche Vendee. Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan & Holly Winterburn Combined for 37 Points to Claim 1st Home Euro Cup Victory of the Season.
Backed by a loud and proud rambunctious South London crowd, hometown heroes London Lions fought off France’s La Roche Vendee in a physical and thrilling 90-79 Victory. Mikiah “KiKi” Herbert-Harrigan and Holly Winterburn led from the front in a balanced scoring effort from the Lions.
Holly Winterburn missed out on a double-double by a single assist and a triple-double by 3 rebounds in the hard-fought clash. The dynamic GB national team regular dimed her teammates 9 times, scoring 19 points and grabbing 7 rebounds.
“KiKi” Herbert-Harrigan shot Crystal Place’s Grade II-listed lights out, going 7/10 from inside the arc, including two ice-cold and much-needed mid-range shots during a tough second quarter. Along with her 18 points, the fearless 6’2” forward dished out 4 assists, grabbed 4 rebounds and had 2 steals and 1 block.
The thrilling victory started well for our hometown heroes, as they leapt out to a 13-6 lead and then a 15-9 lead shortly after. This startling effort was assisted by great defensive plays from Taylor Murrey, “KiKi” Herbert-Harrigan, Ty Battle and Katsiaryna Snytsina, who all grabbed at least 1 steal each.
However, their excellent team play was dampened in the last 1:50 of the quarter when La Roche Vendee shifted the momentum (and energy) in their favour. This came via Luisa Geiselsoder’s 2-point floater, Coline Franchelin’s steal, and her 2-point driving layup with a mere 5 seconds left on the clock.
Unfortunately, the shift in momentum and the energy fed into the second quarter as La Roche fought their way back into the game. The La Roche-sur-Yon-based club scored 30 points and held the Lions to 24, squaring the game at 43 a piece at halftime. This effort came via their captain Ana Suarez, who was lights out from beyond the arc, knocking down 3/3 of her 3-point shots and Luisa Geiselsoder, who went 4/5 from inside the arc.
Katsiaryna Snytsina led the second quarter resistance with 12 points, along with Ty Battle, who contributed 10-points to the effort. The Lions passed the ball well, combining for 13 assists but turned the ball over 9 times.
The third quarter saw our hometown heroes’ lockdown defence force La Roche into 4 team turnovers. Holly Winterburn, Katsiaryna Snytsina and Kennedy Leonard came up with vital steals to snatch the momentum away from the French side.
Galvanised by the South London faithful fans, “KiKi” and Winterburn hit huge 3-pointers to help Lions’ resistance. Winterburn came up big in the third, scoring 12 points, along with Taylor Murray and “KiKi,” who added 5 and 6 points, respectively. Our hometown heroes finished the quarter with a 70-57 lead.
The lions kept La Roche Vendee at bay in the fourth period. Although conceding 20 points, they scored 22 to claim the 90-79 victory. London couldn’t knock down any 3-pointers in the fourth but dominated the paint via physical contributions from Battle, “Kiki,” Murray and our captain marvel Shanice Beckford-Norton.
Katsiaryna Snytsina finished the game with 14 points, 3 steals and 1 huge crowd-pleasing block. Taylor Murray came up big in the game with 12 points, 3 assists, and 3 lockdown steals. Ty Battle missed out on her very own double-double by 2 rebounds, contributing 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals to the Lions’ collective effort.
Be sure to tune into the next Euro Cup game on Wednesday, 9th November, at 7 pm.