London Lions beat Eagles to win WBBL play-offs
Shanice Beckford-Norton has captained London Lions to four trophy wins this season
- Published
London Lions completed a clean sweep of trophies by beating Newcastle Eagles 92-65 in the final at the O2 Arena to win the Women's British Basketball League play-offs.
The outstanding Abby Meyers top-scored for London with 31 points, while Savannah Wilkinson weighed in with 13.
It helped clinch a fourth consecutive play-off triumph for the Lions, who this season also won the WBBL Championship, WBBL Trophy and the EuroCup, where they beat Istanbul-based Besiktas to become the first British champions in a European competition.
They have now won 14 trophies since being relaunched in 2020 - but this will be their last before much of the team disbands.
Owners 777 Partners are set to withdraw funding for the team to compete in Europe next season, meaning players must find alternative clubs for the sake of their careers.
Tierra Hodges top-scored for Newcastle with 21 points and helped them recover from a shaky start.
The underdogs appeared to be in danger of being blown away after London raced into a 9-0 lead, with American guard Meyers starring.
That prompted Eagles coach Matt Newby to call an early timeout, after which his side grew into the game.
They reduced London’s lead to 14-6, with Hodges scoring all of her side's points, and trailed 18–14 at the end of the first quarter.
The deficit was briefly cut to just two points, but London responded strongly, powering 46-28 ahead by the end of the second quarter and - despite Chloe Gaynor’s back-to-back triples - opening up a 24-point advantage in the third to lead 74-50 going into the final quarter.
To their credit, Newcastle did not give up and continued to attack aggressively, but the gulf in class remained clear. London's score is the highest-ever in a WBBL final.