WBBL Trophy Quarter-Final
Leicester Riders 88-59 Durham Palatinates (19-10, 39-21, 60-44, 88-59)
(Riders: A.Lewis – 17, O.Hamilton – 14, M.Stone – 14; Palatinates: A.Lowe – 18, E.Hendershot – 11, J.Wayne – 10)
Leicester Riders earned a spot in the WBBL Trophy Semi-Finals this evening with a dominant victory at home to Durham Palatinates in which they never trailed.
Seven successive points from Anna Lappenkuper late in the first quarter helped the Riders pull away, and from there they continued to build momentum and they didn’t look back.
Alison Lewis put in an excellent double-double shift off the bench for the home side, scoring a team-high of 17 points in just over 17 minutes, as well as grabbing ten rebounds and contributing three assists, one steal and one block.
Fourteen points each from Oceana Hamilton and Makana Stone as well as double-figure contributions from Lappenkuper and Brooklynn McAlear ensured it was a solid days work all round for the Riders.
Palatinates guard Elle Hendershot was on triple-double watch throughout the second-half as she put up 11 points and 11 rebounds but fell just three assists short, while Abby Lowe once again continued her good scoring form since joining from the Newcastle Eagles, as she put up a game-high of 18.
Despite forcing the same amount of turnovers as Leicester, the visitors failed to really capitalise on them as the Riders scored 18 more points after turning over possession, as well as 22 more points on the fast-break compared to Durham who managed just two.