Archers fail to tame Lions as London continue unbeaten streak

Fresh off a title-clinching victory against the B. Braun Sheffield Hatters, the London Lions carried that momentum on to Cardiff where they secured a convincing victory over Stef Collins’ Archers in the penultimate game of their Regular Season campaigns.

Starting Fives:

London Lions: Ivana Katanic, Katsiaryna Snytsina, Holly Winterburn, Savannah Wilkinson, Abby Meyers.
Cardiff Met Archers: Cami Barone, Solene Lemoigne, Lara Habling, Jenna Hoschouer, Haylee Saurette.

First Half

The Lions had their tails up in the first quarter and showed no signs of difficulty despite the absence of their captain, Temi Fagbenle, who has now departed the team to take on her latest opportunity in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever at training camp.

Defensively diligent, London held their opponents scoreless for the first six minutes of the contest and were rampant on the offensive end themselves in that period as they notched up 27 points on their way to 34 in the opening stanza.

A much more competitive second quarter was on the cards as Cardiff found their offensive rhythm and put up 15 points of their own behind the impressive showing of All-Star forward Haylee Saurette, who would end up with 24 points in total on the day, but London still led to the tune of 63-23 at the interval.

Second Half

London’s stern defence withstood further Archers pressure in the third period as the Lions continued to grow their lead.

Without a recognised centre in their line-up with the likes of Fagbenle and Megan Gustafson having departed for the WNBA, the Lions were playing small ball and causing significant problems for their opponents in the process.

Entering the final period, the Archers had their best defensive quarter of the game in limiting the Lions to 20 points, but even so the champions held off the late surge from Cardiff and saw out a 114-54 victory.

Player of the Game

Holly Winterburn led the offence for London with 22 points and eight assists, but it was the veteran forward Katsiaryna Snytsina who took Player of the Game honours with a near triple-double of 18 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in a commanding performance from the 38-year-old.

Team Player Points Rebounds Assists
London Lions Holly Winterburn 22 2 8
London Lions Katsiaryna Snytsina 18 14 8
Cardiff Met Archers Haylee Saurette 24 1 0
Cardiff Met Archers Lara Habling 14 3 1

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