Ashley Harris and Siobhan Prior fire Nottingham Wildcats into the WBBL Cup Final.
WBBL Cup, Semi-Final
Nottingham Wildcats 75-66 Leicester Riders (15-22, 37-40, 52-57)
Nottingham Wildcats have made it to the WBBL Cup Final after prevailing through a gruelling East Midlands derby, beating Leicester Riders 75-66 after a stunning finish to the game.
It is the second season in a row that Wildcats have made it to the WBBL Cup Final, and they will be keen to get their hands on the silverware having lost out to Manchester Mystics last year.
Leading scorers – Harris 20, Prior 19, Lovett 10 (Wildcats); Hayward 17, McGarrachan 11, Thompson 11 (Riders)
Turning point – Trailing by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, Wildcats produced a 19-2 surge to end the game and fire themselves into the final. Siobhan Prior scored eight points in that run, sparking it with a three-pointer and hitting another to tie the game at 64. The Wildcats defence forced four turnovers in the spell, meaning that Riders went scoreless for the final three minutes, and scored just once in the last six minutes.
Key stat – Effective transition offence saw Wildcats score 19 points from the 14 turnovers that they forced, including seven Riders’ turnovers in that crucial fourth quarter. They took the lead in such fashion at 68-66 when Prior stole the ball from Alex Smith and laid in at the other end.
Game hero(es) – Ashley Harris led the way with her customary double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Prior scored 19 points, including 5-7 (71%) three-pointers and the crucial late scores.