The Wrap

And then there were two.

The road to the Emirates Arena for the 2017 WBBL Trophy is complete after Leicester Riders and Sevenoaks Suns set a historic showdown with Semi-Final victories at the weekend.

Leicester booked their spot with an impressive 94-83 home victory over Nottingham Wildcats, much to the delight of head coach Matthew Harber.

“I can’t describe how proud I am of the players and all the staff,” he declared.

“We have worked hard for this moment and we played with a tenacity and focus greater than I’ve ever seen from us before.

“We were not prepared to give up this second opportunity to make a major final and we’re excited to have made that step.”

The Wildcats were chasing in a third consecutive WBBL Final in a third different competition, but fell short despite a shared 58 points from Siobhan Prior and Ashley Harris.

Erin McGarrachan led the Riders with 19 points as six players in total hit double figures with double-doubles from Erika Livermore – 13 points, 12 rebounds – and Alex Smith – 10 points, 11 assists.

The visitors led 5-10 early on before a 10-0 run from the Riders helped establish a nine-point cushion and a lead they would not relinquish.

Nottingham cut the gap down to three in the second, but were kept at bay for the duration as Leicester pulled away to complete a memorable victory.

Harber added: “Credit to Nottingham as they never stopped finding ways to return in the game and the Harris/Prior duo was a tough match.

“Our performance was a team victory with 6 players in double-digit scoring is very impressive.”

As for the Suns, they faced the daunting task of a trip to the defending champions, Westfield Health Sheffield Hatters – who were unbeaten in the group stage.

However, they too made a strong start and established a commanding 17-point lead by the end of the third before securing a 67-82 triumph.

Cat Carr played the full 40 minutes and netted a game-high 28 points for her side with Gabby Nikitinaite and Dani Lozzi adding 14 and 13 points respectively.

Riders and Suns will go head-to-head at the Emirates Arena on March 19, LIVE on BBC Sport where one side will be celebrating a first-ever WBBL title.