Game three coming up to decide it all!

FENERBAHCE SK - SOPRON BASKET 72-78 (21-16, 15-20, 22-24, 14-18)
Istanbul

Fenerbahce SK: Plum 11/9, Dabovic 8/3, Powers 4, Verameyenka 9/3, Vaughn 18 Sub.: Sottana 7, Kizer 6, Cora 4, Vardarli 3/3, Canitez 2, Bilgic -, Senyurek -

Sopron Basket: Fegyverneky 6, Turner 17/9, Crvendakic 10, Milovanovic 18/3, Jovanovic 2 Sub.: Coates 13, Salvadores 10/6, Page 2, Dubei -

Stats

FGS: 26/55 47% ill. 27/60 45%

3-PTS: 6/16 38% ill. 6/18 33%

FTS: 14/16 88% ill. 18/19 95%

Rebounds: 30 (Vaughn 8) ill. 33 (Coates 8)

Assists: 18 (Plum 4) ill. 19 (Crvendakic 8)

Steals: 3 ill. 7

Turnovers: 14 ill. 10

Blocks: 0 ill. 5 (Coates 4)

Faults: 23 ill. 21

Eff: 78 (Vaugh 17) ill. 98 (Coates 24)

The hosts got the right for the first possession at the tip-off, but at the beginning neither team was able to make a basket, until Plum converted a triple and gave the early lead to Fenerbahce. Verameyenka doubled the hosts' points by adding another triple to their total before Jeca was able to get our first basket. A minute later head coach Roberto Iniguez had to call his first time-out in the game, because we were still unable to score, and we couldn't stop Fenerbahce on offense at the other end either (4th minute 10-2). Unfortunately the pause didn't get the Turkish out of rhythm, and they have already reached a double-digit lead in the middle of the first period (5th minute 15-4). Then after Alaina came on court the tables have turned in the game, and we stated to come closer to the home side. Following a few great defensive stops and some nice pick and roll offenses we were only trailing by five points at the end of the first period (10th minute 21-16).


The second quarter began with two minutes of silence, but then Cora made a double, to which Yvonne answered back likewise. Jeca added two more points to reduce the gap to a single basket, when Yvonne made a huge three to tie the game up (14th minute 23-23)! In the next few minutes neither team was able to pull away by many, but Fenerbahce were always a small step ahead. With two minutes on the clock after several exchanges of baskets Dabovic got a technical foul, so we were about to shoot a free throw in hopes of taking over the lead for the first time in the game, and after the home team's time out that is exactly what we did. Jeca made the foul shot and she also converted a double afterwards (34-36)! Unfortunately that wasn't the end of the quarter just yet, Kelsey Plum tied the game up with a double, and Zsófi's effort came off the basket, so the first half ended with a tie game (20th minute 36-36).


The second half began with an open jumper from three by Dabovic, but at the other end Jeca copied her actions and tied the game up again. Fenerbahce started the quarter better, but we wouldn't let them get far ahead of us. Yvonne buried a demoralising triple to take over the lead again, which made the hosts' coach call a time-out (24th minute 48-49). After the break Zsófi made a lay-up off the assist by Yvonne, and when our number 22 was about to run away again the Turkish fouled her and awarded us two free throws and possession, which got us ever further ahead (48-53). In the following couple of minutes Fenerbahce seemed to have woken up, and they erased their deficit, what's more, coach Iniguez had to call a time-out again, because the hosts regained their lead after a successful three-point play (29th minute 58-55). Our head coach sure knows how to motivate his players, we closed the quarter out with a 5-0 run that consisted of two free throws by Zsófi and a huge triple by Angela to regain the lead for us before the final stage of the game (30th minute 58-60)!


Angela started the last quarter the way she ended the third – with a huge triple. Then Zsófi got fouled in the act of shooting and converted both shots from the line to give us a seven-point lead (32nd minute 58-65). Birsel Vardarli calmed her teammates down with a three. Later Kia Vaughn made a double to cut the hosts' deficit back down to a lay-up's worth when coach Iniguez called his next time-out (34th minute 63-65). What's more, following doubles by Verameyenka and Vaughn and a triple by Plum the lead was back to Fenerbahce and the teams returned to the benches for a short break (35th minute 70-65). Alaina performed a nice three-point play to sneak back up on Fenerbahce, and one possession later Aleks tied it all up again. After an exchange of baskets we have made some adjustments on defense, and finished two consecutive attacks with a basket, which gave us a four-point lead with less than a minute on the game clock, and Fenerbahce called a time-out (40th minute 72-76)! After being fould by Plum Yvonne made two free throws to get us even further ahead. With 13 seconds to go Fenerbahce called their last time-out to make a last effort in the game, but Vaughn's shot came off the basket, which means that nothing has been decided yet, the two teams will meet again next week in Sopron to determine who will get through to the Final4 in the Euroleague (40th minute 72-78)!

Roberto Iniguez: I love my players! We showed everyone what kind of a team we really are! There aren't a lot of teams that can win here. This is Sopron Basket! They are still the favorites but we will fight hard against them next week as well!

Yvonne Turner: We played Sopron Basketball! We fought! Together!

Highlights of the game: