WBBL Championship
Nottingham Wildcats 74-94 BA London Lions (16-29, 37-53, 52-72, 74-94)
(Wildcats: J.Joyner – 37, C.Shumpert – 13, T.Freeman – 6; Lions: C.Breen – 35, K.Leonard – 14, S.Beckford-Norton – 12)

Nottingham Wildcats’ Jasmine Joyner and BA London Lions’ Cassie Breen dropped 37 and 35 respectively, but it was the latter’s incredible tally of points that inspired her side to a victory this evening.

The Lions raced into a 13 point lead at the end of the first quarter, largely thanks to Breen dropping 19 of her 35 points in the game in the opening ten minutes, which included four successful attempts from behind the arc to give her side all the momentum.

At half-time, Joyner had only managed 16 of her total of 37 points, but the ten points in the second quarter did help the Wildcats put up a fight, but Breen’s ten points in the quarter plus further significant contributions from Valentina Klocker and Shanice Beckford-Norton gave the Lions a 16 point lead at the break.

The third quarter saw Breen score her final points of the game, but Joyner again put the pressure on the visitors by dropping 12 points, with Chelsey Shumpert putting in a solid shift on the backboards and assisting her teammates, but again, the Lions’ extra bit of quality showed as Kennedy Leonard grew ever closer to her triple double – supplying eight assists and scoring eight times herself by the end of the third period.

Leonard would complete her double-double in the final quarter, scoring a total of 14 points and setting up her teammates eleven times for buckets, Stephanie Umeh, Nichole Lavinier and Ines Goryanova scored a combined 18 points off the bench for the Lions.

Joyner would finish on an incredible 37 points, but Chelsey Shumpert’s 13 points was the closest total to the Wildcats’ center’s, who finished the game with the most points – despite Breen’s similarly explosive performance.

The result helped the Lions up to second place, replacing the Wildcats who drop down to third for the time being.