SHEFFIELD HATTERS are sticking to their word of aiming to win all four Super League Basketball trophies this season with only the play-off final at London’s O2 Arena left on their ambitious to-do list.

Hatters meet Caledonia Gladiators, who they beat in the play-offs last year, and more recently for the Betty Codona Trophy back in February, in Sunday’s final knowing victory would make them only the second team in the history of women’s basketball to win the quadruple.

“It would be a really amazing achievement to get the quad,” said head coach Vanessa Ellis, after the 85-64 win against Oaklands Wolves. “It would be real credit to the team, to the organization, thoroughly deserved.”

Cheyenne Stubbs, who was named MVP for the first time on Saturday night at the Canon Medical Arena, said: “We just have to get one more and then after that we can celebrate.”

Shauna Harrison helped steer Sheffield Hatters into the SLB play-off final.

placeholder image — Shauna Harrison helped steer Sheffield Hatters into the SLB play-off final.

After a rare defeat to Oaklands Wolves two weeks ago in an away match, and with Hatters Jessica Eadsforth-Yates and Georgia Gayle not playing, the pressure was on for Ellis’ team to perform.

“It was tough today we had our two guards out injured and ill so it was really down to seven seniors and one junior,” said Ellis. “I just thought every single player stepped up and really contributed to the team and it was an amazing performance.”

The game against the Wolves was a heated battle, with 45 fouls across both teams in an intensely fought semi-final encounter.

“We just had to play physical,” said Sheffield-born Shauna Harrison. “We have been saying that all week in training, we have to be aggressive, go in strong, don’t look for the fouls and we did that today.”

Both Wolves and Hatters fought hard from the tip-off, however Ellis’ team took a strong 43-24 lead into half-time.

During the third quarter the Wolves were able to close the gap to 63-52, making the final 10 minutes a nail-biter, but Hatters responded well under pressure using the tense finish as valuable preparation ahead of Sunday’s final.

In preparation for the O2, Harrison - whose team has won the Cup, the Betty Codona Trophy and the regular-season title, said: “We will watch games back from when we played Gladiators recently, pick up what we need to work on, what our weaknesses were and also see the positives.

“It would mean everything to win. At the start of the season we said we are going four for four and we are sticking to our word.”