As her side prepare for Sunday’s WBBL Cup final, captain Shanice Beckford-Norton believes that the game can be the springboard for a successful season for Lions:
“We want it to be the start of something for us” she said. “It’s the first cup final of the season and it’ll be a statement from us if we can win it. We’re unbeaten in WBBL games this season but this weekend will give us the opportunity to show what we can do and we won’t be holding anything back.”
Beckford-Norton is more concerned about how Lions play than the challenge a depleted Eagles team will bring:
“It’s not about who we’re up against” she said. “As Mark [Clark – Lions’ coach] says it’s about ‘we’ not ‘me’.
“Since we’ve been back from the break practice has been very intense and we’ve been holding each other accountable. We’ve set ourselves goals for the rest of the season and reminding each other what we need to do to achieve our aims."
“But we’ll still respect Eagles. They’re guard-heavy rather being dominant inside. That means us guards need to be on top of our games. If they go to a zone [defence] we need to make sure we play inside out and if out bigs get stuck or doubled inside they need to kick the ball out.”
The Lions’ captain is excited about playing in a big game in Birmingham: “I think the level of support from the fans and Sky Sports is great. We hope to put on a good show for everyone watching.”
Beckford-Norton came through the ranks at Barking Abbey, the East London Academy run by Lions' WBBL coach Mark Clark, before going to Louisiana State University. The 5'8" Londoner was named WBBL Play-Off final as her 30 point, eight rebound and four assist performance helped the Lions defeat Eagles in the title game, She averaged 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in limited court time during Lions’ Cup run but in league games she is up to 13.5ppg, 6.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
The sides have already met once this season with Lions producing a dominant performance in the north-east nine weeks ago to win 100-45. Four Lions finished in double figures that day - with Jo Leedham leading the way with 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists - while the other four players who saw action all scored at least five points. Ebony Horton was the only Eagle to finish in double figures with 12 that day as Lions did much of the damage with a 56-18 first half.
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