FIBA EuroCup Women
Roche Vendee Basket Club 76-75 London Lions (27-13, 27-21, 10-18, 12-23)
Vendee: Clarke, 21; Lewis, 14; Pouye, 9 — Lions: Winterburn, 19; Snytsina 16; Herbert Harrigan 16

After a worrying start, the London Lions valiantly battled back in the second half against Roche Vendee Basketball Club to lose by just one point in their second FIBA EuroCup Women clash, 76-75.

Holly Winterburn led the Lions comeback with 19 points, and was one free throw away from tying the game in the final seconds.

Despite the loss, last season’s WBBL quadruple winners still advance to the second round of the EuroCup Women.

It was always going to be a tough ask for the Lions in FIBA EuroCup Women to clinch a playoff spot away from home, even against a Roche Vendee squad that sat at the bottom of the Group J coming into the game.

The large and rowdy French crowd cheered loudly and stomped their feet rhythmically when the home team was on defence.

You can understand, then, why that will have been intimidating for the visitors, who struggled in the opening frame. The first Lions bucket was a layup from Taylor Murray after two and a half minutes, which stopped a 9-0 run.

It took some heroic shots to stay within striking distance, including a tough running one-handed jumper from Shanice Beckford-Norton over Louise Preneau’s outstretched arms.

Down 15 to start the second quarter, Winterburn opened with aggression to get the line and hit both free throws.

The Lions then showed their typically stingy defence to force a long distance prayer at the end of the shot clock for Ana Suarez – it missed but Roche scrambled back the offensive board, which found its way to a former WNBA champion with the Seattle Storm, Kaleen Mosqueda-Lewis, who nailed the three.

The Lions kept up the pressure, and continued to be aggressive on offence, forcing fouls and creating rotation issues for Roche, so London could capitalise with good passing in the paint.

Despite some good shooting from the likes of Kiki Herbert Harrigan, Roche looked keen to avenge the loss they suffered in London at the start of November.

They kept up the pace and built a big lead with a few minutes to go in the half. 

Vendee’s Tiffany Clarke was doing most of the damage. After scoring just four points in 21 minutes during the first clash between these two teams, she might not have been high on the scouting report, but the former Vanderbilt forward hit all six of her shots in the first half. Most of them were layups, but she showed some nifty footwork and hook shots in the lane – and she hit four of her five free throws.

With a 54-34 hole to climb out of, the Lions came out of the locker room with fire and forced a turnover when Roche set up a play for talented big Luisa Geiselsoder. This was then followed up by a Katsiaryna Snytsina three and a sense of renewed hope for the Lions.

The next time down, Taylor Murray was open from mid-range and hit a jumper, then pestered Suarez from the moment she received the inbounds pass to force a steal. While Murray gathered the ball and attacked the rim, Suarez hit her with an unsportsmanlike foul. 

Murray had to take a breather, but Kennedy Leonard came in to hit a free throw. On the new possession, the Lions found Herbert Harrigan open for a three from the wing, and all of a sudden, London looked like the team that beat Roche Vendee one month earlier. 

Both sides turned up the defensive intensity, and the next few minutes drew to a stalemate. Lions coach Mark Clark inserted their young star, Herbert Harrigan, back into the line-up.

It was the veteran head who broke the scoring drought, however, as Snytsina continued her ascent up the EuroCup Women all-time scoring list with a big three.

A few minutes later, Herbert Harrigan made her presence felt by scoring the most casual three of the game. After receiving the ball at the top of the arc, she pump faked, and while the defender didn’t bite so hard, the Lions forward simply rose up and nailed the long distance shot to cut the deficit to 14, which became just 12 going into the final frame.

London’s momentum kept building, and while Roche played good defence on the opening possession of the fourth quarter, Azania Stewart received the paint and made a tough bucket off the glass.

This was followed up by a tough running layup for Winterburn to cut the lead to single digits.

The tough luck continued for the home team, as third leading scorer Tima Pouye fell awkwardly and had to be carried off he court. This break in play, however, also slowed London’s offensive spurt.

Who put the Lions back on track? Who else – Snytsina with a corner three closed the gap back to eight. 

Time was beginning to tick away, and Roche were trying to manage the clock on offence, with a slim lead in their favour. Their full court pressure meant the Lions couldn’t get into an early offence, and the home crowd got back into the action after a nervous few minutes.

With less than a minute to go, the Lions got a defensive stop and controlled the run of play. Leonard set up a play to get the ball to Winterburn down low.

As the defence collapsed on her, it left Leonard open at the top of the arc for an open three. It was all net as the deficit was cut to four.

Another stop and a quick three for Herbert Harrigan missed the mark but Leonard grabbed the offensive rebound and got it back to Herbert Harrigan, who got the ball to Winterburn, was fouled with 12 seconds to go. The GB international hit both free throws, and London were within two points.

The Lions fouled and Roche hit one of two, Then Winterburn got up the court and was fouled on a three point shot. She hit two of three, and attempted to miss on the third – in a bid to either grab a rebound and win by two, or ensure a loss by one and secure a tiebreaker over the French side. 

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