Semi-final Game 1 clinched

SOPRON BASKET - CMB CARGO UNI GYŐR 80-55 (19-18, 22-15, 20-8, 19-14)

Sopron Basket: Fegyverneky 9/3, Turner 16/12, Crvendakic 3/3, Milovanovic 19/9, Jovanovic 15 Sub.: Salvadores 10/3, Page 6, Dubei 2, Weninger -

CMB CARGO UNI Győr: Laklóth 6/3, Fields 13/9, Varga Zs. 4, Krivacevic 9, Goree 6 Sub.: Simon Zs. 6/6, Nagy-Bujdosó 6/3, Czank 3/3, Stepanova 2, Török Á. -, Markó D. -

Stats

FGS: 30/59 51% ill. 20%53 38%

3-PTS: 10/27 37% ill. 8/19 42%

FTS: 10/18 56% ill. 7/8 88%

Rebounds: 36 (Salvadores 8) ill. 29 (Krivacevic 6)

Assists: 16 (Fegyverneky, Turner 4-4) ill. 13 (Fields 5)

Steals: 9 ill. 5

Turnovers: 9 ill. 19

Blocks: 0 ill. 0

Faults: 13 ill. 22

Győr took the ball at the tip-off, and they finished the first offense with points by Varga from the free throw line (1st minute 0-2). After some hard battles under the basket Tina also drew a foul and converted both shots from the line. Tijana Krivacevic also found a way to the free throw line, but she missed one, while on the other side Yvonne sent her defender packing and buried a triple (3rd minute 5-3). Laklóth wasn't going to let us pull away and hit a three at the other end, two which Yvonne answered back with two foul shots. Krivacevic made one from the paint, and after Zsófi's lay-up Simon buried a demoralizing triple to force our first time-out (5th minute 9-11). Jeca made her first basket after the short pause to tie the game up, but Krivacevic scored again to regain the lead for Győr. Zsófi beat the buzzer to make a three, but Simon answered back likewise right away. Fields beat Yvonne one-on-one to make an easy lay-up and give her team a four-point lead (9th minute 14-18). Zsófi cut our deficit in half with her signature mid-range jumper, and after Angela's triple the lead was finally ours again (10th minute 19-18).


The second quarter began with a triple by Nagy-Bujdosó, to which Czank added another one (12th minute 19-24). Danielle scored our first points in the period after grabbing her own rebound, and after a defensive stop Jeca made a lay-up off Zsófi's assist, which forced Sandro Orlando to call a time-out (13th minute 23-24). Goree made a double on a spin move over Jeca, who then hit a buzzer-beating double at the other end. The away team's center kept scoring, but so did Jeca, who equalized with a nice triple forcing Győr to call a time-out (17th minute 28-28). The short break did good to us, Jeca made another shot from downtown giving us a three-point lead, but then Laklóth converted an and-one to tie the game back up again. Jeca found her rhythm, she scored once more, this time from mid-range, but so did Krivacevic at the other end. Tina managed to get a ball to Yvonne that we seemed to have lost, and she hit a triple from it. She did it once again in the next offensive possession, and then gave an assist to Jeca to set the score for half-time (20th minute 41-33).


Jeca started off the second half with a huge triple, which gave us a double-digit advantage for the first time in the game. In the next attack Angela drew an unsportsmanlike foul on Varga, and that made Győr call a time-out before the penalty shots (23rd minute 44-33). Angela missed both free throws but Tina made a nice hook shot from the possession afterwards, to which Zsófi added a double from fast-break. Our Serbian center was able to score despite being fouled in the act of shooting, and she converted the free throw, too, and a minute later the difference has reached the twenty-point mark (25th minute 53-33). Nagy-Bujdosó made the first basket of the quarter for Győr, and finished the three-point play at the line. Yvonne answered back to it with a nice jumper from downtown. Not being able to finish the next offense with a basket, the away team called a time-out (27th minute 56-36). When the clock almost ran down, Angela managed to find Tina under the basket who made a close double off the incredible assist. In the last few minutes of the quarter both teams fought hard, but the difference remained the way it was, so we were facing the final period in possession of a twenty-point advantage (30th minute 61-41).


Krivacevic set off the fourth quarter with a double, to which Goree later added two more from the line (33rd minute 61-45). After that Danielle scored our first points in of the period, and then Fields hit a triple. Jeca also made a double, but after the next triple by Fields Roberto Iniguez decided it was time to talk it over and called a time-out (35th minute 65-51). Angela went in to traffic after the break and made a difficult shot under the rim, and she copied that move in the next attacking possession. She and Goree had an affair, that almost led to violence. Following that incident Angela came up with a steal and made a fast-break shot much to the appeal of the home fans. Virág came on court for the last two minutes, and after grabbing the defensive rebound she gave an assist to Tina at the other end (39th minute 76-53). Fields made one for two points, to which Tina answered back likewise off the assist by Angela. Debi scored her first points in the game from the line. The game ended with a big difference, but the only thing that matters is that we lead the series 1-0 (40th minute 80-55).

The next game will be played in Győr on Friday from 6 pm.

Roberto Iniguez: We started softly, and were out of focus on offense, as well. However after the break we showed a different side of ourselves. We will have to play on a high level for a longer time. This is hard for everyone, there are lots of games, and our rotation also narrowed down. I know we are tired, we are close to our limit. I am a little afraid because of our energy, I can see from their movement that the girls are fatigued, but there is nothing else we can do, we keep working. There are still three weeks left of the season. We want to make it to the final in the Hungarian league, and then we can say we have got into every final this season. I am proud of my players and the job they are doing day-by-day. We have a great team!

Zsófia Fegyverneky: In think we started softly, we weren't on the level we wanted to be especially on defense. When we were able to change that, the difference got bigger and bigger.

Sandro Orlando: Congratulations to Sopron! Right when they put pressure on us on offense they decided the game immediately. We played well for 18 minutes, and that is not enough against a team like Sopron. I am disappointed because of the loss, but I am happy because we have changed in the right direction mentally. We have to be focused everyday, we have to practice hard, and if the girls understand that, then we will be better and better. This is the only way we can be successful, this is the play-offs!

Zsófia Varga: I was expecting a closer game, I was hoping we would be able to make a surprise. Our attacks didn't pan out the way we pictured it, we couldn't make the plays we talked about, just like we weren't able to make our plans work. But if we could improve on that, we might be able to win on Friday.