We had to work hard for the win in Budapest

Vasas Akadémia - Sopron Basket 73-79 (17-21, 14-17, 20-21, 22-20)
Budapest

Vasas Akadémia: Heljic 13/3, Dombai 19/6, Tóth O. 15, Vukov 4, Karakasevic 7/3 sub.: Varga A. 9/3, Böröndy V. 6, Boros B. -

Sopron Basket: Fegyverneky 3, Czukor 7/3, Turner 6, Crvendakic 10, Zahui 15 Sub.: Dupree 15, Határ 10, Dubei 7/3, Licskai 4, Weninger 2, Varga K. -

Stats

FGS: 20/42 48% ill. 29/52 56%

3-PTS: 5/17 29% ill. 2/14 14%

FTS: 18/24 75% ill. 15/18 83%

Rebounds: 40 (Heljic 11) ill. 41 (Dupree 9)

Assists: 17 (Tóth O. 4) ill. 24 (Crvendakic 5)

Steals: 7 (Tóth O. 3) ill. 6

Turnovers: 15 ill. 13

Faults: 21 ill. 26

VAL: 82 (Dombai 18) ill. 99 (Dupree 29)

In the first two minutes both teams were unable to score, and the first made shot was a free throw by Amanda. Then Dombai hit a triple and a double for the home side, after which we had to fight for a comeback, which came in form of doubles by Yvonne and Aleks (4th minute 5-5). Two minutes later was the first time we were able to take the lead, after two successful free throws by Aleks, following which it was Vasas's turn to try to keep up with us, and they managed to do it (11-11). Then Dombai converted two free throws, to which Debi answered back with our first triple of the night to get us on the front foot again, but Vasas managed to keep up with us, and got ther lead back, which was intact until Candice came on court and scored five points to close the first quarter with a small lead for us (10th minute 17-21).


In the second period Candice picked up where she left off at the end of the first, and hit one more double, and then Amanda also made a shot before Böröndy could get the home side started (13th minute 19-25). At one point we were leading by seven, and then Vasas woke up, and performed a 5-0 run to reduce the gap (29-31) before Dalma put an end to their efforts by hitting a triple. Then Betti was also successful from close in, restoring the earlier difference. The final moment of the first half was a double by Licsi securing our lead at seven points after two successful free throws by Tóth (20th minute 31-38).


Amanda and Aleks began the second half by handing out assists to each other, and then Tóth hit one from mid-range. When Amanda converted a free throw, the difference has reached double digits for the first time in the game, and Debi added two more points to our total from mid-range (22nd minute 33-45). We seemed to have pulled away from the hosts, but then with Karakasevic's shot from downtown the difference was back down to that of the half time (25th minute 40-47). What's more, after a successful double by Dombai we were only ahead by five, and that's when our young guns, Debi and Virág stepped up and got us back on the right track again (46-57). After that came Heljic's minutes, first she converted two free throws, and then hit a triple right at the buzzer to stay close to us (30th minute 51-59).


Tóth opened the final stage with a basket for two, to which Betti answered back likewise. Then Zsófi and Amanda put three points on the board, but so did Dombai from downtown, to which Dalma reacted with two mid-range doubles, forcing a time-out for the home side (34th minute 56-69). The short pause proved ineffective for Vasas, since Betti was able to score again, increasing our lead all the way up to 15 points, and then she also came up with a block at the other end of the court. In the next few minutes free throws were in focus, Tóth and Vukov combined made three, while Aleks hit two, before Heljic finally made two field goals for two (36th minute 63-73). Then came a short period when both sides were unable to score, and Yvonne put an end to it from close in, but then Varga made a three for the home side. In the last minutes Vasas did everything in their power to come closer to us, but we managed to hold them off in the end, and came away with an important six-point victory keeping our unbeaten streak alive in the league (40th minute 73-79).

Roberto Iniguez: I am disappointed! There was only one team on the court today and it wasn't ours. Congratulations to Vasas!

Dalma Czukor: We played out of rhythm, and not the way we said we would in training. We will try to change that and prepare for the game against Hatay.