Sheffield Hatters defeated hosts Manchester Basketball 90-71 to win the SLB Cup.

Vanessa Ellis and her Sheffield Hatters team continued their phenomenal campaign by securing victory this weekend at the AO Arena.

It marked the team’s second cup triumph of the season after a win over 80-62 victory over Caledonia Gladiators earlier in the year to win the Betty Codona Trophy.

Vanessa, who has been the head coach of the Hatters for 12 years told The Star: “It's amazing to win again. It's really good to win trophies and something everyone in the sport wants to do. We're all so excited and super happy to win the cup.

“We’ve just clicked as a team. Really playing to each other’s strengths. The team balances out with lots of different qualities and we all work well together which contributes to the success.

“We had a little celebration, went out and enjoyed it. We put a lot of hard work together behind the scenes and we just want to cherish all these moments and enjoy the feeling of success.”

The Hatters have proved throughout the season that they are a consistent outfit that’s more than capable of performing on the biggest of stages. However, their mission for the campaign is far from finished, as Vanessa, like her captain Georgia Gayle earlier in the week, reiterated the team’s desire for a clean sweep by winning all four trophies on offer.

Sat top of the standings, the Hatters are in a strong position to win the regular season title. This would then put them in one of the top seeds to win the play-offs, which would complete the set.

The head coach explained: “There’s the league title and the play-off championship still up for grabs and we’ll be chasing them all to see if we can win the lot this season. It’s a really tough thing to do. The last time it occurred was London Lions when they had lots of money and really invested in the team.

“But we’re now at that same level and performing well. It's tough to show that level of consistency over a full season but I think we’re capable.”

Vanessa also heaped praise on the team’s captain . Gayle delivered on the big stage with 20 points as Meg Mullings added 15 and another Sheffield-born player in Shauna Harrison scored 12.

“She had a really solid performance and has been great for us this season,” added the Hatters coach.