Important road win in a tightly contested game against Lille

ESBVA-LM - SOPRON BASKET 73-83 (24-22, 16-21, 12-19, 21-21)
Lille, Attendance: 2200

ESBVA-LM: Bremont 8, Amant 4, Leedham 11/9, Gomis 16/6, Diop 14 Sub.: Akonga 15/6, Jovanovic 5/3, Kamba -, Konate -

Sopron Basket: Fegyverneky 20, Turner 13/6, Crvendakic 12/6, Langhorne 20, Jovanovic 10 Sub.: Milovanovic 11, Dubei 8/6, Salvadores 5/3

Stats

FGS: 29/68 43% ill. 32/64 50%

3-PTS: 8/24 33% ill. 7/21 33%

FTS: 7/8 88% ill. 12/15 80%

Rebounds: 32 (Akonga, Jovanovic 5-5) ill. 40 (Langhorne 14)

Assists: 16 (Bremont 5) ill. 22 (Fegyverneky, Turner 6-6)

Steals: 8 (Leedham 3) ill. 5 (Turner 2)

Turnovers: 10 ill. 11

Blocks: 0 ill. 11

Faults: 18 ill. 14

The game didn't start the way we wanted it, Lille performed a 9-2 run in the first four minutes, in which Tina Jovanovic managed to score our first basket of the night after three minutes, and coach Iniguez immediately called a time-out to stop the run (4th minute 9-2). His efforts in motivating the team have proved successful, because in the remainder of the quarter we came back in the game, and at the end of the first period we were down by only two points (10th minute 24-22).

In the second quarter we took matters in our own hands, and for the first time in the game we were leading by two points after Crystal's successful lay-up, and three minutes into the quarter Jeca doubled our advantage, we were up by four (13th minute 26-30). Later Akonga managed to tie the game, but the French couldn't be happy for long, because Debi stepped up and made a three. Then came a two-minute period when Lille performed a 5-0 run and took over the lead, but we proved that we are not easy to beat, and immediately came back. What's more, the girls gained momentum from the comeback, and used it to make another lead change, and close this very tight first half leading by three points (20th minute 40-43).

The second half started off slowly for us, having conceded four points in the first two minutes without scoring any, giving the lead back to the hosts, but then we arrived into the game with a slight delay, and started to show them what we're made of, although we had to wait three more minutes to be able to get a lead bigger than one basket's worth (25th minute 46-50). These points scored by Zsófi were the 3rd and 4th of an 11-0 run in the next three minutes, making the lead grow to double figures for the first time in the game. Our run was stopped by Diop's free throws with less than two minutes on the clock. The difference between the two teams got stuck at around ten points for the rest of the quarter, and the third period ended with a 10-point Sopron lead (30th minute 52-62).

The last quarter began with a triple by Yvonne, and then Lille tried to run at us, and decrease their deficit in the game, but we held out. Three minutes into the fourth quarter Akonga made a shot from downtown, and brought her team to within ten points, making the home fans' hope to have a chance of winning come to life again (34th minute 59-67). After that she scored two more points, and Roberto Iniguez decided that he had seen enough, and called a timeout. As usually, the short break in the game was enough for us to regroup, and get our focus back, and just one and a half minutes later our lead grew into double digits again (35th minute 63-73), and at the end of an 8-0 run we were ahead by 14 points. We can say it is a comfortable lead with so little time remaining in the game, but Lille thought otherwise. They tried their best to reduce the gap between the teams, but we managed to hold them off at the end and came away with a 10-point road win (40th minute 73-83).

Roberto Iniguez: Most important win! Especially on the road! The key to the win was our defense in the second half. This is a tough crowd, I'm very happy!

Crystal Langhorne: It was an amazing game at the home of an outstanding team! I'm very happy about the win!