THE University of Essex's women's Blades team have reached the National Cup final.

They made it through for the second time in three years after winning their semi-final at home to Derbyshire Gems.

The Blades will now wait to see who wins the other semi between Bristol Flyers and Ipswich, with the final taking place at the University of East London on January 21.

They will be looking to recreate their cup final exploits from two years ago, when they edged a tight contest against a Reading Rockets side led by current Blades favourite Cat Lutz.

Performance Basketball coach Mark Lloyd said: "We're obviously delighted to be in the final again, for the second time in our short three-year history in the National League.

"The players have worked so hard, both on a game-day itself and also in terms of their attention to detail in the preparation for each game.

"This is in addition to their other major commitment to their studies.

"They're having fun, playing hard, focussing on the process and enjoying the results of that hard work.

"We've come so far in a short space of time as a programme and we really are now able to align ourselves with the leading programmes in the country."

The Blades, top of National League division one, were up against opponents sitting second in division two and they started strongly.

In the first two minutes, Lutz was able to connect with her first three attempts from beyond the arc to put her side in the driving seat.

The Gems' Jo Clayden was being made to work hard by Ellie Shaxon but eventually found her way to score, bringing the margin back to just five.

Monika Kucerkova established her dominance to stretch the lead back in Essex’s favour and, at the end of the quarter, the Blades held a 21-11 lead.

The second period was another strong one for the Essex side.

The majority of the scoring came from Kucerkova and Jasmine Ogunjimi.

Kucerkova added ten points and Ogunjimi seven.

At the defensive end, the Blades were able to successfully hinder the offensive threats posed by Derbyshire and they won the quarter 23-10 to go into the locker room at half-time with a 44-21 advantage.

Early in the next quarter, Lutz again showed her ability from the three-point line as she connected on her first three shots.

The Blades stretched the lead to 30 when Derbyshire then responded.

Kendal James led the push for the visitors with three long-range jump shots to cut the lead to 24.

Jess Hunt, however, stepped up to the plate for the Blades and finished around the basket on two occasions to stretch the lead back out towards 30 points.

By the end of the third quarter, the Blades held a 63-35 lead.

The visitors started the quickest in the opening stages of the fourth.

Causeur got to the line on two separate occasions for the visitors and was able to score all four foul-shots.

Ogunjimi then raced down the other end and connected on a three to further establish the Blades’ dominance.

With the Gem’s resistance broken, the Blades were able to keep their composure until the buzzer and win 81-50.

Lutz led the scoring with a double-double performance of 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Ogunjimi also secured a double-double which featured 17 points and 11 assists, while Kucerkova contributed a further 21 points and five blocks.