Finals spot secured in Zalaegerszeg

ZTE NKK - Sopron Basket 62-90 (18-27, 21-19, 11-24, 12-20)
Zalaegerszeg

Sopron Basket: Turner 8, Casas 5/3, Crvendakic 29/3, Dupree 18, Határ 6 Sub.: Zahui 8/6, Dubei 8/6, Weninger 8/6, Czukor -, Varga K. -

ZTE NKK: Koizar 2, Maltsi 13/6, Pusztai 15/3, Boonstra 12/3, Horti 13 Sub.: Kovács G. 3/3, Gáspár-Szalay V. 2, Benke 2, Preisinger -

Stats

2-PTS: 15/35 43% ill. 30/46 65%

3-PTS: 4/15 27% ill. 7/15 47%

FTS: 20/24 83% ill. 9/10 90%

Rebounds: 24 (Boonstra 5) ill. 33 (Zahui, Crvendakic , Turner 6-6)

Assists: 10 (Koizar 6) ill. 18 (Turner 10)

Steals: 5 ill. 8 (Turner 3)

Turnovers: 14 ill. 12

Faults: 13 ill. 21

VAL: 59 (Pusztai 15) ill. 105 (Crvendakic 32)

Candice got the game going for us with a double, to which Horti answered back with a lay-up. After that Aleks scored three in two possessions, while at the other end Pusztai came up with a triple (2nd minute 5-6). After that Maltsi made a mid-range double to take the lead for ZTE, but then Aleks converted a three-point play to regain it. Approaching the middle of the quarter neither side was able to build up a significant lead, the teams were neck and neck, but we were slightly ahead (5th minute 12-14). Then we managed to take it up a notch, and performed a 5-0 run to force the home side's first time-out in the game (12-19). Pusztai and Betti exchanged buckets after the short pause, to which Horti added teo successful free throws, and then Pusztai made a lay-up cutting the home side's deficit in half. That's when Debi stepped up and hit a three from the corner to stop the comeback effort, and then Amanda hit a triple to beat the buzzer at the end of the period (10th minute 18-27).


Debi opened the second period with a double, to which Gáspár-Szalay answered back likewise. After that Queralt added a lay-up to our tally, but ZTE wouldn't let us pull further ahead, Horti made two of two from the line (13th minute 22-31). After that Amanda and Horti exchanged doubles, to which Boonstra added out two of three from the line. However, Betti was able to answer back right away with a close double off a spin move, but then Maltsi also scored at the other end (15th minute 28-35). Then Aleks made a lay-up off an assist coming from Yvonne after a steal, and when Betti hit a double to increase our lead into the double-digit region ZTE called their next time-out to talk things over (28-39). Boonstra made a close double after grabbing an offensive rebound when the teams came back on court, to which Maltsi added a three-point play reducing the gap to six. After that Aleks put an end to the home side's run by hitting both foul shots awarded, to which she then added a close double. The half ended with us still being ahead, but ZTE were able to slightly carve into the margin (20th minute 39-46).


Pusztai began the second half with a double, to which Yvonne answered back likewise, and then Aleks beat the buzzer from mid-range, followed by another successful attempt for two points (23rd minute 41-52). After that Maltsi hit one from downtown, while at the other end Betti made a double, to which Candice added a three-point play, and when she made her next attempt as well, the difference has reached fifteen points, forcing Dávid Gáspár to call his team to the bench to talk things over (44-59). Koizar scored for two after the break, and so did Candice. Pusztai made both of her attempts at the foul line, and then at the other end Candice managed to put two more points on the board for us. Then after four more quick points we were flirting with the twenty-point margin, but Pusztai stopped our run with a bucket for two (28th minute 50-67). However, after an open three by Debi we have reached the twenty-point mark setting the score for the quarter (30th minute 50-70).


Yvonne got the final stage of the game going with a double, to which Virág added an open three. In the next couple of possessions both sides made some mistakes on both ends, but then Boonstra was able to get ZTE's first point in the period from the free throw line (33rd minute 51-75). Kovács made another free throw for Zalaegerszeg, to which Amanda answered back with a lay-up, and then Virég added another one to the scoreboard (52-79). The home side kept scoring from free throws, this time Boonstra made four of her attempts at the line in a row. Kovács hit one from mid-range, to which then Aleks answered back with a corner three, and then Virág added another triple to increase our lead further. When Aleks scored again from inside the paint ZTE called their next time-out to stop our run (38th minute 58-87). Benke converted two attempts from the line after the short pause, but then Amanda converted an and-one at the other end increasing our lead to thirty with a minute left from the game. Horti managed to carve into it with a lay-up, setting the final score, which meant that we were through to the final (40th minute 62-90).

Roberto Iniguez: We beat a team in Zalaegerszeg who fought well and deserve to play for the bronze medal.

Aleksandra Crvendakic: Zalaegerszeg played very well in the first half, they took advantage of our mistakes on defense, which we tried o fix after the break. Congratulations to them, they fought well in the series. As for us, next up: finals!