After an unbeaten month for Leicester Riders, Head Coach Krumesh Patel – who re-joined his hometown club in the summer after two years coaching in Sweden – has won the Molten WBBL Coach of the Month award for February.

Going 3-0 in all competitions, perhaps the most significant result of the month saw them beat their top four rivals Caledonia Gladiators in the quarter-finals of the Betty Codona WBBL Trophy, a competition that Riders won three years in a row between 2018 and 2020, with Patel in charge for the first of those. Against Gladiators, they used a stifling defensive fourth quarter – a theme in recent games – during which they held their opponents to just five points, to prevail 55-44 through a gritty defensive contest.

That’s been a characteristic of Patel’s team as they have bounced back perfectly in February after ending January with defeat in the WBBL Cup Final at the Utilita Arena, Birmingham, live on Sky Sports, since turning ever more to their defence as they have averaged just 57 points conceded per game in the month.

Riders also secured two league wins in February to initially end the month joint-top of the WBBL Championship table with London Lions, and have since overcome Oaklands Wolves in overtime on the first day of March to go clear at the summit and make it 9 straight league wins dating all the way back to early October.

In league play they added irrepressible offence, scoring 96 points in victory over Wolves and 92 on the road at Cardiff Met Archers, winning all eight quarters as they dominated both of those games.

Patel and the Riders now face a big month of March, including hosting the third-placed Sevenoaks Suns in the WBBL Championship, before facing Newcastle Eagles in the Betty Codona WBBL Trophy semi-finals.