With the WBBL Cup group stages played out in November, and the semi-finals now set, the first monthly awards of the campaign have been announced with an East Midlands double. Jesper Sundberg picks up the Molten WBBL Coach of the Month, and Jasmine Joyner the Molten WBBL Player of the Month.

Sundberg’s Leicester Riders team went a perfect 3-0 in November to top their WBBL Cup group and set up a semi-final tie with Cardiff Met Archers. And they did so against formidable opposition in the North Group, seeing off local rivals Nottingham Wildcats, as well as Newcastle Eagles and Manchester Met Mystics, both of whom had highly impressive off-seasons in the recruitment market.

Riders currently lead the league on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, averaging 74 points per game while giving up just 54, for a margin that doesn’t come close to being matched at this stage.

Most impressively, they held both Wildcats and Mystics to under 50 points while trailing for only about five minutes across those two games, and restricting their opponents to a stifling defensive field goal percentage of just 25%.

But when Sundberg needed his team to score, they did so, in beating Newcastle 96-71 to round out the month with an irrepressible surge over the last eight minutes of the game. For the first time this season they found themselves trailing for considerable periods at the Eagles Community Arena, but they emerged from their huddle to win the fourth quarter by pouring in 36 points and conceding just nine while returning to their defensive foundation and holding their hosts scoreless for six minutes.

Another indicator of the brand of basketball that Sundberg has his team playing comes from the fact that they have twice had five players scoring in double-figures, and have had seven different double-figure scorers already this campaign, with numerous threats across the floor in a balanced offence led by Kate Oliver and Holly Winterburn.

Among players, Jasmine Joyner led Nottingham Wildcats to the WBBL Cup semi-finals, with their only defeat being to their East Midlands rivals. She currently leads the WBBL in two prime time categories, averaging 23 points and a massive 16 rebounds per game – the latter being streets ahead of the field.

Now entering her third campaign with Nottingham – having averaged a double-double in the previous two – she has made 30 field goals so far, all from inside the arc, with that being double what any other player has made. She has also created second chance opportunities for herself and her team by leading all players with 5.3 offensive rebounds per outing.

And Joyner continues to be a force at the other end of the floor too, looking set to lead the league for the third season in a row in blocked shots, currently setting the pace with two per game; and she is also second in the league in steals with 3.3 per contest. Adding in her defensive rebounds, an estimated 19 opposition possessions end with the ball in Joyner’s hands each game.

She saved her most impressive performance for last in November as she set a WBBL record with 17 field goal makes en route to a haul of 37 points on 73% shooting in Saturday’s defeat of Manchester Met Mystics. She also completed the biggest double-double in WBBL history in that game, grabbing 19 rebounds.