Victory at the opening game in the Euroleague

Bourges Basket - Sopron Basket 60-70 (12-12, 17-22, 15-14, 16-22)
Sopron, zárt kapus

Bourges Basket: Duchet 7/3, Mendy 11/6, Guapo -, Chartereau 15/6, Godin 3 Cs.: Yacoubou 18, Mann 4, Michel 2, Astier -

Sopron Basket: January 18/6, Fegyverneky 4, Williams 19/3, Brooks 17/3, Krajisnik 8 Cs.: Walker 2, Johnson 2, Czukor -

Statisztika

Mezőny dobószázalék: 23/60 38% ill. 25/55 46%

3-pontos dobószázalék: 5/15 33% ill. 4/14 29%

Büntető dobószázalék: 9/13 69% ill. 16/19 84%

Lepattanó: 36 (Yacoubou) ill. 32 (Krajisnik 7)

Gólpassz: 18 (Godin, Micel 5-5) ill. 13 (January 4)

Szerzett labda: 5 (Mendy 2) ill. 11 (January, Brooks 3-3)

Eladott labda: 16 ill. 13

Fault: 20 ill. 18

IBM: 64 (Yacoubou 19) ill. 70 (Williams, January 20)

Jeca got the game going for us with a double, to which Duchet answrred back from behind the three-point line (2nd minute 3-2). After that Jeca made two free throws to tilt the game back our way, while at the other end Chartereau came up with a three-point play. Briann buried a shot from outside. Then Glory Johnson entered the court for the first time, and handed out an assist to Briann right away (6th minute 6-9). Yacoubou split a pair of shots at the foul line, while at the other end Gabby made a double. We were unable to score for a while after that, which gave Bourges a chance to come closer and they took it (10-11). What’s more, before the end of the quarter they were even able to tie the game up with a lay-up by Michel (10th minute 12-12).


We opened the second period with two quick baskets, to which Gabby added one more from the foul line, and when she ran down the court for a lay-up after stealing the ball Bourges decided to call their first time-out in the game (13th minute 12-19). Yacoubou started scoring for the French after the short pause, but Glory quickly shut down their come-back efforts with a lay-up of her own. Six minutes into the quarter Dávid Gáspár called a time-out after a triple from the corner by Mendy (16th minute 21-25). The talk proved ineffective, because we were unable to prevent them from scoring, but then Jeca made two free throws to calm her team down a bit, followed by Briann hitting a shot from mid-range to make the gap even bigger. Bourges wouldn’t let us pull further away from them, they always had an answer to whatever we tried, but we were still in possession of a slight advantage when the teams went into the half-time break (20th minute 29-34).


Jeca got the second half going with a double from mid-range, to which Yacoubou answered back from inside the paint. The teams were neck and neck in the initial period, neither side was able to take charge of the game, but our lead was still intact (23rd minute 33-40). Mendy split a pair of free throws, then Yacoubou put a lob pass into the basket for Bourges getting them back to a two-point deficit. That’s when Zsófi showed her class with a contested lay-up to hold them off, and then Megan went in for a rebound when she got fouled, and converted both free throws into points afterward (27th minute 38-44). Jeca hit a double, to which Mendy answered back with a corner three at the other end forcing head coach Dávid Gáspár to call a time-out (41-46). Chartereau buried a huge three coming back on the court. Then Gabby first blocked a shot at her own basket and then went in for a double att he other end setting the score for the period (30th minute 44-48).


Chartereau got the final stage of the game going with yet another demoralizing three, but then Gabby answered back right away from inside. The French scoring machine was able to hit again giving her side the advantage (51-50). Not for long, though, because Tina answered back from inside the paint, and then she hit again from just inside the three-point line. When we were about to get into rhythm Bourges struck back and forced our next time-out (35th minute 55-57). Briann came up with a quick double after the short talk, to which Duchet answered back likewise. Then our point guard struck again, this time from behind the arc holding off yet another comeback effort by Bourges, which forced Olivier Lafargue to call his team to the bench and talk things over (57-62). Briann was unstoppable in this quarter, she hit another double for us. With less than two minutes left on the game clock Dávid Gáspár thought he needed to talk to his team again and called them to the bench for a time-out (59-64). Bourges converted a free throw after the break, and then Tina made two free throws to secure our lead. Jeca also made both of her opportunities at the line count, giving us our biggest lead in the game and then she finished with a lay-up just before the buzzer to increase it to double digits (40th minute 60-70)!

Dávid Gáspár: - It was a very physical game. Bourges played the way we expected them to do. The girls fought hard and even if the game wasn't as cut-throat, we are happy to have started our campaign in Euroleague.

Zsófia Fegyverneky: - It was a very hard game, but that's what we expected. We knew that they were going to try to take advantage of their height and physical strength under the baskets, so we paid special attention to prevent that, and we managed to do it in most parts of the game. We kept them at 60 points, and were able to find the people on offense who were able to step up in key moments. I am happy we were able to win our first Euroleague game!

Briann January: Great team win! Everyone who played tonight gave something extra, and that's why we managed to win. Congratulations to Bourges as well, fr posing such a great challenge to us. We won as a team, but we have to get better for the next game.

Olivier Lafargue: - We played a game we wanted, we tried to stay in the game all the way through. We weren't far from success, but in crunchtime Gabby Williams, Jelena Brooks, and Briann January came up with some big shots. I am a bit disappointed by the difference, which we managed to cut down on in the second half, but in the end it got to ten. We will rest and get started on the preparation for Landes! We will fight for the win, just like we did today against Sopron. We will quickly reprogram our brain, and focus on the next game, we will do the necessary work.