A historic night of European basketball at the Copper Box Arena features London Lions against Besiktas in the second leg of the 2024 EuroCup Women final.
🎟️ London Lions women tickets are on sale now.
It’s England v Turkey at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and a brand new name on the list of EuroCup Women winners will be confirmed this evening. London Lions are the first ever British team to reach a European final which takes place over two legs. Besiktas and London Lions met in the first leg in Istanbul on Wednesday 3 April. The game ended 75-68 in favour of Besiktas. Now the second leg in the capital on Wednesday 10 April awaits. The Londoners need to overturn a 7-point deficit to claim a famous victory on aggregate. London Lions women tickets are on sale!
London Lions Women have set a new bar for women’s basketball in the UK over the last two years. The 2021/2022 season saw the Lions complete a perfect 34-0 record in the WBBL and secure a clean sweep of WBBL Cup, Trophy, league and play-off silverware. And in 2022/2023 they backed up that remarkable achievement by once again claiming a quadruple of domestic trophies, in so doing confirming their status as the best ever side to play in the WBBL. Now the Lions look to raise the ante by becoming the first British club team to win a European competition.
EUROCUP WOMEN – THE STORY SO FAR
In 2021/2022 London Lions Women became the first British women’s club in 10 years to feature in European competition (see below for an introduction to FIBA EuroCup Women). Last season they made it through to Round 1 of the EuroCup knockout stages where came unstuck in the last-32 against No.1 seeds Tango Bourges. This season the Lions have made yet more history – and the journey is not over yet!
The Lions topped Group I in the qualifying stages and then dispatched Turkish side Bursa Uludag Basketbol in Round 1 (last-32) of the knockout stages. In doing so the Lions became the first British team to reach Round 2 of the EuroCup Women Play-Offs. There they met Spanish side Lointek Gernika Bizkaia who were defeated in the last-16. An 87-59 victory at the Copper Box in mid-January sealing the deal.
Into the quarter-finals and London Lions made history by seeing off Turkish side Melikgazi Kayseri in impressive style over two legs. The Lions overall margin of victory was 20 points. And there was more of the same in the semi-final against Italy’s Umana Reyer Venice. A 71-59 win in the second leg saw the Londoners secure a famous 140-127 aggregate win to propel them into the final against Besiktas.
And so to a memorable night in store at the Copper Box on Wednesday 10 April. The first leg in Turkey last Wednesday ended 75-68 in favour of Besiktas. The winners will be decided on the aggregate score across the two games.
Will London Lions Women get the ‘W’ (by more than 7 points!) as they look to hold aloft the trophy tonight at the final whistle? Or will the visitors take the silverware back to Istanbul? All roads lead to the Copper Box Arena to find out!
ONES TO WATCH
A stellar London Lions roster includes Holly Winterburn. The youngest player in WBBL history to amass 1000 points, Winterburn was integral to the Lions side during their domestic quadruple achievements in 21/22 and 22/23 and has picked up where she left off last season with several standout performances. None more so than in the all-important EuroCup semi-final second against Venice when Winterburn put in an outstanding performance that included a 17-point haul.
Olympian and WNBA champion Temi Fagbenle has also been in superb form for London Lions. Fagbenle lead from the front with with a 26-point haul and the PotM award as Lions beat GDESSA Barreiro 79-60. The Londoners fourth straight win in Group I of the group stages. Fagbenle’s has been instrumental as Lions have advanced through the knockout stages, getting better and the stakes have got higher. Along with Winterburn, in the semi-final against Venice she drove the team to victory including a 14-point haul in the second leg.
American Megan Gustafson was also in inspired form for Lions in their semi-final against Venice shooting 19 points in the second leg. And another player shining on the European stage is Katsiaryna Snytsina. Snytsina was PotM for the Lions when they secured their place in the Round of 16. She racked up 20 points and 5 rebounds in the 122-63 victory over Bursa Uludag Basketbol.
Watch out too for Karlie Samuelson who starred for the Lions in their two-legged EuroCup quarter-final against Melikgazi Kayseri. Two outstanding performances from the guard saw her score a total of 44 points across the tie. Samuelson was subsequently announced as the February MVP winner by EuroCup Women.
LONDON LIONS WOMEN TICKETS, TIMINGS & TRAVEL INFO
🗝️ Doors open at approximately 6pm.
🏀 Tip-off for London Lions v Besiktas is at 7pm.
🎟️ London Lions women tickets are on sale via the ‘Get Tickets’ link.
🚊🚗 Travel tips: Copper Box Arena. Public transport is recommended. The nearest railway stations are Hackney Wick overground and Stratford International station. Both are approximately a 15-minute walk. Stratford (with links to the underground and DLR) station is about a 20-minute walk. Plan your journey at the Transport for London website. Limited parking is available at the Copper Box Arena, however parking is available at the nearby Westfield Shopping Centre.
About the FIBA EuroCup Women Regular Season: The FIBA EuroCup is a European knockout tournament. It features 48 women’s club sides from around Europe. It’s split into two conferences based on geographical criteria. There are a total of 12 groups (of four sides each) who play each other on a home-and-away round-robin basis. Teams that finish first or second in their respective groups will advance to the knockout rounds. Along with the four best third-paced teams from each conference. 32 sides progress from the group stages to the knockout stages. These take place on a home-and-away basis.
LONDON LIONS WOMEN – 2023/2024 WBBL SO FAR
The WBBL 2023/2024 domestic campaign is underway and London Lions have picked up where they left off with twelve wins from their opening twelve matches in the Championship, including a 98-65 demolition of Durham Palatinates last time out. And at the end of January the Lions brought up a record-equalling 10th straight British basketball title beating Essex Rebels 83-67 in the BBL Trophy final to lift the 2024 Betty Codona Trophy.
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LONDON LIONS WBBL HOME FIXTURES
