Finals spot claimed in huge battle in Győr

CMB CARGO UNI GYŐR - SOPRON BASKET 54-62 (17-18, 19-16, 8-17, 10-11)
Győr

CMB CARGO UNI GYŐR: Fields 4, Czank 12/12, Varga Zs. 4, Krivacevic 10, Goree 3 Sub.: Stepanova 11/3, Török Á. 6, Laklóth 4

SOPRON BASKET: Fegyverneky 2,Turner 5/3, Crvendakic 20/12, Milovanovic 13/6, Jovanovic 14 Sub.: Page 4, Salvadores 4, Dubei -

Stats

FGS: 22/52 42% ill. 24/52 46%

3-PTS: 5/11 46% ill. 7/19 37%

FTS: 5/7 71% ill. 7/7 100%

Rebounds: 31 (Goree 6) ill. 30 (Jovanovic 7)

Assists: 13 (Fields 4) ill. 15 (Crvendakic 4)

Steals: 6 ill. 5

Turnovers: 11 il. 10

Blocks: 1 ill. 3

Faults: 17 ill. 14

VAL: 56 (Stepanova 13) ill. 79 (Crvendakic 32)

Győr got the ball at the tip-off, and although Fields missed her first attempt at the basket, Krivacevic was more successful, and gave the hosts the early lead in the game (1st minute 2-0). Both teams played with many mistakes in the initial stage of the game, but almost four minutes into the quarter Tina was finally able to score our first basket and tie the game up, to which Jeca added a triple that gave us the advantage. Yvonne also found her rhythm in the game and she buried one from downtown as well, and after another shot from Jeca Győr called a time-out to stop our run that grew as big as 10-0 (6th minute 2-10). The short pause has had its effect on the hosts, Czank hit one from the arc right after the teams came back on court, and then Laklóth also made a double to reduce the gap to a single basket's worth. Aleks put an end to Győr's comeback efforts with two successful shots from the line. Angela also put a couple of points on the board from free throws, to which Stepanova replied with a double from close in, but our young gun wouldn't stop and made two more free throws. Török made a double at the other end, to which Fields added two more, before Page was able to score, but Stepanova's shot also found the way into the basket from three. That last shot meant that we still had the lead, but only just (10th minute 17-18).


Tina opened the second period with a double after a steal by Danielle. After yet another turnover by Győr Aleks stepped into spotlight with a triple off the assist by Danielle, but the hosts were able to score, too, Czank hit another triple. The fans saw a real shoot-out between Aleks and Czank, this time it was Aleks' turn to score again, and so she did (13th minute 20-26). Győr kept up with us, Goree made two shots from the free throw line. What's more, with Czank's next made 3-point shot and a double by Stepanova the lead was Győr's already, which made head coach Roberto Iniguez call a time-out (15th minute 27-26). Aleks made the first shot after the break from close in, to which Varga answered back likewise. Then came Tina with another lay-up off the assist by Zsófi, to which Czank responded with a triple at the other end. Tina tied the game up with a double, but Goree was able to push Győr forward with a free throw. After the exchange of baskets by Aleks and Török who converted an and-one, which as it turns out had set the score for half-time (20th minute 36-34).


Yvonne's double opened the third quarter that tied up the game again, and then Krivacevic and Aleks exchanged baskets, to which Laklóth added two points after an offensive rebound, but she missed the and-one. Tina copied Laklóth's actions, after grabbing the rebound she put it back for two (23rd minute 40-40). Jeca scored two from the assist by Yvonne, and then completed the three-point play from the line. Tina added two more to get us a bit further away from our hosts, but they fought back right away with a double by Fields. Jeca came up with a triple to forc Győr's next time-out (28th minute 42-48). After the break Aleks hit another three, to which Stepanova answered back from mid-range, and that wrapped up the third quarter of the clash (30th minute 44-51).


Tha final stage of the game began with a triple from Aleks that gave us a double-digit lead for the first time today (31st minute 44-54). Tina kept growing our lead even bigger, she put two points on the board off the assist by Aleks. Fur and a half minutes into the period Krivacevic stole the ball from Yvonne, and handed it to Stepanova who scored Győr's first basket of the quarter. Yvonne corrected her mistake right away with the assist she gave to Danielle for two points (35th minute 46-58). Krivacevic managed to make two more consecutive baskets that brought her team back down to single digits. After some unsuccessful attempts to increas the number of points on the board head coach Roberto Iniguez decided he'd seen enough and called a time-out before the hosts could come even closer to us (38th minute 50-58). Following the pause Zsófi made her first shot of the game from mid-range, but Krivacevic answered back right away. What's more, Varga also hit a double, which brought Győr back to being down by only six points. That is when Jeca made one for two, and Aleks came up with a block with 21 seconds remaining to force a time-out for the home side after a team turnover (40th minute 54-62). Fields' triple came off the rim, and then the only option fpr Győr left was to intentionally foul, and that is what they did, but we managed to win the game and thus advance to the league finals with a 2-0 win in the series on aggregate (40th minute 54-62).

Roberto Iniguez: The scenario was similar to that of the first game, we were better in the second half again. Fatigue is visible on my players, so this is why it was extremely important that we won, because it would have been a real drama for us, if we had to play on Sunday again.