London Lions women will look to move a step closer to another piece of silverware when they face Nottingham Wildcats in the BBL Trophy at University of East London on Saturday afternoon, tip-off 2pm.
Mark Clark's team are undefeated in domestic competition this season and have already lifted the BBL Cup but the Lions' play-caller is looking for another place in a final with the winner of the tie meeting either Sevenoaks Suns or Leicester Riders in Emirates Arena, Glasgow, in a fortnight's time.
When the sides met at the Copper Box in December, Cassie Breen and Jo Leedham each hit 22 points while Shanice Beckford-Norton added 21 as London ran out 116-82 winners.
By their own standards, Wildcats have had a mixed start to the campaign, winning six of their 14 WBBL Championship games to sit sixth in the table. They are led by Brooklyn Pannell's 18.4 points and three steals a game, and she adds 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Kennedy Nicholas has been a monster on the boards at both ends of the court for the midlands side this season, pulling down 13.6 rebounds to go with her 11 points per game. Jahnae Gyles adds 17.2 points, 1.5 assists and 1.6 steals while Shaunay Edmonds leads them with 4.6 assists, adding 14.2 points and 4.2 boards.
Clark is aware of the offensive threat that the midlands side provide:
“Even when we beat them in the league they still scored over 80 points” he said. “They have two or three players that can put a lot of points on the board, so unless we apply ourselves we could be in trouble. We need our defence to stay in the game, we need to prepare properly and control their shooting percentages. Their guards provide a lot of their scoring, but we’re a deep team and we should be able to control the game."
The game is a repeat of last season's final which saw Lions romp to a 96-64 victory at the University of Worcester with Breen leading London with 25 points and Kennedy Leonard recording a superb stat-line of 21 points, nine assists, seven steals and six rebounds Lions received a first round bye in the competition - which sees all 13 WBBL sides competing on a knock-out basis - before hammering Manchester Mystics 101-46 last week. Wildcats edged out Gloucester City Queens 90-83 at Wildcats Arena in the first round before hammering Cardiff Met Archers 117-82 at home in the last eight.
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