All-Star 5 – Week 19 – Women’s British Basketball…

After a big weekend of WBBL Championship and WBBL Trophy action, both Leicester Riders and London Lions have a pair of representatives in the All-Star 5 after both teams went through a century in big wins, in a weekly team that includes three of the most frequent faces.

Kennedy Leonard – London Lions
Lions remain unbeaten in all competitions after British point guard Kennedy Leonard led them into the WBBL Trophy semi-finals, making her fifth All-Star 5 appearance of the season, joint-third among all players after a first showing for eight weeks. In an efficient performance she shot 8-9 (88%) from the field, with 12 assists, six rebounds and four steals in the win over Manchester Met Mystics, setting the tone immediately with six points and three assists in a 17-0 start over the first five minutes.

Alison Lewis – Leicester Riders
Leicester also put more than one hundred points on the board in a road win at Gloucester City Queens that strengthened their top four spot, leading to a second All-Star 5 showing in the last four weeks for American guard Alison Lewis. She came from the bench to pour in 24 points in just 26 minutes, completing a double-double with a huge 14 rebounds and five assists. Riders were narrowly behind when Lewis checked in, until she scored 10 points in three first quarter minutes to put them up double-figures for good, while they scored 23 second chance points including nine from Lewis’ eight offensive boards.

Dominique Allen – Manchester Met Mystics
Before losing out in the WBBL Trophy semi-finals, Mystics consolidated their top five position in the WBBL Championship with a road win at Cardiff Met Archers, led by London 2012 Olympian Dominique Allen as she makes her fifth All-Star 5 appearance of the season, joint-third overall with Leonard. She had a big double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds, in just 25 minutes, while shooting 10-13 (76%) from the floor and also adding three steals and two blocks in an impressive defensive performance.

Brooklynn McAlear-Fanus – Leicester Riders
The only debutant in this week’s team, Leicester’s Canadian point guard Brooklynn McAlear-Fanus is seventh in the WBBL in assists and third in three-point percentage, and that was all on display in Sunday’s win over Queens. She scored 21 points on 4-8 (50%) three-point shooting, while handing out nine assists, along with five rebounds and three steals, including five assists in the first quarter as she pulled the strings for Leicester in establishing an early double-figure lead. They scored 24 points from turnovers including a score from all three of her steals.

Jo Leedham-Warner – London Lions
London also went through a century the day before the WBBL Trophy success, remaining unbeaten at 12-0 in pursuit of the WBBL Championship title, led by Jo Leedham-Warner as she makes her seventh All-Star 5 appearance of the season which is joint-most among all players with Leicester’s Oceana Hamilton. She shot 8-11 (72%) from the floor on her way to a game-high 21 points, with five rebounds, three assists and three steals in just 23 minutes, including 11 points in the first half as Lions took a double-figure lead and consecutive scores that sparked a 13-0 surge just before the half that settled the game.

Off the bench: Erika Williams (Manchester Met Mystics), Elle Hendershot (Durham Palatinates), Julia Koppl (Sevenoaks Suns), Taylor Edwards (Caledonia Pride), Sian Phillips (Caledonia Pride), Frankie Wurtz (Sevenoaks Suns), Carys Roy (Cardiff Met Archers).