Fenerbahce strike back for earlier defeat

Fenerbahce Öznur Kablo - Sopron Basket 70-52 (21-15, 18-17, 20-10, 11-10)
Istanbul

Fenerbahce Öznur Kablo: Cakir 13/9, Iagupova 19/3, Zandalasini 5/3, Nicholls 4, Williams 19 Sub.: Canitez 4, Uzun 4, Stokes 2, Cora -

Sopron Basket: January 4, Fegyverneky 10, Crvendakic 2, Brooks 14/3, Határ 15 Sub.: Dupree 4, Dubei 3/3, Jovanovic -

Stats

FGS: 26/57 46% ill. 22/52 42%

3-PTS: 5/20 25% ill. 2/13 15%

FTS: 13/16 81% ill. 6/8 75%

Rebounds: 21 (Iagupova 5) ill. 22 (Határ 4)

Assists: 20 (Iagupova 8) ill. 13 (Fegyverneky 6)

Steals: 10 (Cakir 3) ill. 8

Turnovers: 13 ill. 19

Faults: 16 ill. 17

EFF: 88 (Iagupova 23) ill. 51 (Határ 20)

Iagupova got the game going with a quick lay-up, and then she handed out an assist to Cakir for three. After that Betti and Jeca were able to score, but Fenerbahce always had an answer to whatever we tried to cut into our deficit (4th minute 9-6). Williams made two foul shots afterward, to which Jeca answered back from downtown, and then a bit later with a mid-range jumper by Briann we tied the game up for the first time (13-13). That’s when Zandalasini hit a demoralising three, to which Nicholls added a double from under the rim, and it gave the Turkish some room to breathe (7th minute 18-13). In the remainder of the first period fener managed to put one more point in-between, which meant that the home side went into the first short break with a 6-point lead (10th minute 21-15).


Betti opened the second quarter with a lay-up, while at the other end Iagupova made both free throws awarded, and then Debi hit a triple ti stay close (13th minute 23-20). Then Uzun and Jeca exchanged buckets, followed by a double coming from Elizabeth Williams which forced Dávid Gáspár to call his first time-out in the game (27-22). Fenerbahce scored three points after the short pause, before Jeca made a double for us, and then the home side kept delivering on offense, getting close to a double-digit advantage (17th minute 32-24). After that we came up with a 6-3 period to force Victor Lapena to call his first time-out (35-30). The first half ended with a lay-up by Iagupova beating the buzzer and giving the home side a 7-point advantage (20th minute 39-32).


The second half began with both sides putting up some great defense, and that is why the score remained intact for a while. Later Fenerbahce were the first to crack our defense and pull even further away (22nd minute 41-32). After that Betti found a way to score, which launched a shootout, both sides made baskets one after the other. However, that was the time Briann got her fifth personal foul in the game which meant that it was the end of the day for her (24th minute 45-36). The difference went all the way up to eleven points, before we started to get things together and reduced the gap to seven (49-42). That’s when Elizabeth Williams came up with a three-point play to restore the margin at ten, which maerked the beginning of a 10-0 run for Fenerbahce to close the quarter (30th minute 59-42).


We got the final stage of the game going with a 6-0 run led by Betti and Zsófi, to which Williams put an end by beating her defender one-on-one under the rim for a lay-up (34th minute 61-48). Aleks made two free throws after that, to which Cakir-Turgut reacted by scoring five points in quick succession (66-50). In the last few minutes both sides played making many mistakes, but Fenerbahce were more accurate when it came to shooting, which is why they got the victory with ease (40th minute 70-52).

Dávid Gáspár: We were always one step behind Fener. We didn't react well to their agressive defense when attacking. Our reaction was to launch shorter offenses, which got us into mismatch situations one-on-one, and this way we gave a basis for their good rhythm and the chance for them to get easy baskets. We lacked this level of toughness on defense, which would have given us a little extra. All in all on the home court of such a team we will need better orgaization in order for us to be successful later on.

Zsófia Fegyverneky: We didn't bring the level we wanted on defense. We weren't agressive enough and in the third quarter our offesnses fell apart, too. We rushed shooting, and were unable to creat good chances, and that's why a bigger difference formed in the third quarter. We have to take a look at the mistakes, of which we know a lot about already, fix them and keep going forward.