First game, first win in Budapest

NKE-FCSM Csata - Sopron Basket 63-81 (18-19, 7-24, 17-24, 21-14)
Budapest

NKE-FCSM Csata: Horváth B. 8, Cannon 13/3, Lelik 11/3, Friskovec 11/6, Gustafson 17 Sub.: Radócz 3/3, Angyal -, Mányoky R. -, Boros -

Sopron Basket: Fegyverneky 8, Czukor 2, Crvendakic 17/3, Brooks 20/12, Krajisnik 2 Sub.: Dubei 11/3, January 8/6, Weninger 5/3, Varga A. 5/3, Határ 3

Stats

2-PTS: 21/33 64% ill. 18/41 44%

3-PTS: 5/16 31% ill. 10/23 44%

FTS: 6/7 86% ill. 15/17 88%

Rebounds: 28 (Gustafson 10) ill. 39 (Határ 9)

Assists: 17 (Horváth B. 7) ill. 20 (January 8)

Steals: 5 (Gustafson 2) ill. 7 (Crvendakic 3)

Turnovers: 16 ill. 9

Faults: 20 ill. 16

VAL: 65 (Gustafson 33) ill. 108 (Crvendakic 26)

Friskovec opened the scoring for the home side, but then Jeca was able to answer back right away with a double of her own. After that the Slovenian guard managed to bury a shot from downtown as well, putting her team back in the lead, to which Gustafsson added a lay-up (7-2). Approaching the middle of the quarter we were able to come back to a single-point deficit, and then a bit later we even took over the lead after two successful foul shots by Aleks (6th minute 11-12). Even though we managed to stay in the lead, we were unable to make it bigger, the tight first quarter ended with a basket by Csata (10th minute 18-19).


Alíz began the second period with a triple, to which Réka Lelik answered back likewise at the other end. Then Betti made two free throws, to which Zsófi added one of her signature mid-range jumpers, followed by an assist to Briann, who buried one from downtown to force the home side's first time-out in the game (15th minute 21-29). Coming back on court Cannon made two foul shots for Csata, but then Briann hit the target from mid-range. After another time-out by Csata Jeca made a double to increase our lead into the double-digit region for the first time in the game (25-35). In the remainder until half-time we were finally able to pull away to a safe distance on a run led by Zsófi and Aleks, and went to break in possession of an 18-point advantage (20th minute 25-43).


Cannon hit a double to start the second half, while at the other end Jeca buried a three off an assist by Zsófi. However, Cannon kept scoring, this time she was successful from behind the three-point line. After that Aleks split a pair at the foul line, and then the three-point shoot-out continued: Friskovec made one and Jeca hit two from behind the arc increasing our lead to twenty (24th minute 33-53). Following an exchange of buckets between Lelik and Jeca coach Krisztián Tursics called his next time-out to try and stop us on offense (35-56). In the remaining time in the quarter we managed to grow our lead even bigger and were in a good position to close it down (30th minute 42-67).


The final stage of the game began with a triple by Virág, and then Lelik hit a lay-up for two (32nd minute 44-70). After that Gustafsson came up with a three-point play, which was followed by an exchange of buckets between her and Debi. Approaching the middle of the quarter Csata were on a run to cut into their deficit, forcing Dávid Gáspár to call a time-out (35th minute 53-74). After the short break Csata kept scoring, and came all the way down to a 15-point difference, when Betti and Briann made shots to regain confidence for our side, and then we closed the game on a high note (40th minute 63-81).

Dávid Gáspár: There were big expectations before the game, we prepared very seriously against Csata. We wanted to see how the season opener and the work we put in would show in our first official game. I am very happy and I want to say congratulations to the team for starting the season with a win! It was great to see so many Sopron fans come, it felt great to all of us! They created an atmosphere like home in the arena. The game also had a lesson for us to learn. We would like to analyze the fourth quarter and fix the mistakes we made there later on.