Back on court on winning ways

Sopron Basket – ZTE NKK 76-62 (21-17, 19-15, 17-11, 19-19)
Sopron

Sopron Basket: January 11/3, Fegyverneky 11, Czukor -, Brooks 23, Határ 16 Sub.: Weninger V. 9/3, Dupree 6, Dubei -, Jovanovic -, Varga K. -, Varga A. -

ZTE NKK: Nagy D. -, Kovács G. 4, Burkholder 8/3, Boonstra 4, Hayes 18 Sub.: Delic 18/6, Horti 8, Jurkó N. 2, Kuttor E. -, Dömötör D. -

Stats

FGS: 26/62 42% ill. 21/7 37%

3-PTS: 2/11 18% ill. 3/14 21%

FTS: 22/24 92% ill. 17/20 85%

Rebounds: 46 (Brooks 9) ill. 28 (Hayes 7)

Assists: 18 (Fegyverneky 8) ill. 8

Steals: 10 (January 3) ill. 11 (Hayes 4)

Turnovers: 16 ill. 15

Faults: 22 ill. 22

EF: 102 (Brooks 25) ill. 62 (Hayes 23)

Burkholder opened the game with a shot from behind the arc, to which Jeca answered back with a double. After that Betti came up with a three-point play to turn the game our way, and then Zsófi converted another and-one (2nd minute 8-3). With a successful foul shot by Betti we were already on an 11-0 run, to which Briann added a made jumper from mid-range before Hayes was able to score for the guests (5th minute 13-5). Kovács and Betti exchanged baskets, and then Hayes managed to score twice in a row to cut into her team’s deficit. After a while she broke a scoring drought by making a double and forcing our first time-out in the game (17-13). Briann hit a double from just inside the three-point line after the short pause, to which Delic answered back with a lay-up. The first quarter ended in a tight game, but we were still in a four-point lead (10th minute 21-17).


Horti got the second period going with a double, to which Jeca answered back likewise. After that Horti split a pair of free throws, while Jeca made a basket for two at the other end. Approaching the middle of the quarter Burkholder reduced the gap to three, but then Betti made a lay-up off an assist by Zsófi to pull away a bit further again (15th minute 29-24). Horti and Briann exchanged buckets, the former scored for two and the latter for three. Then Burkholder made a lay-up, and Jeca hit both foul shots awarded, to which Candice added a lay-up off an assist by Jeca setting the score for the half-time break (20th minute 40-32).


Delic made a triple to get the second half going after two minutes of drought, and then Candice made a lay-up at the other end (23rd minute 42-35). Two minutes later we found ourselves in a 7-2 run which increased our lead into the double-digit region again forcing Zsófia Horváth’s next time-out in the game (49-37). Virág put an end to a two-and-a-half-minute long scoring frought by making two shots at the foul line, to which Delic answered back with a double, which was followed by an exchange of buckets by Candice and Horti. We ended the period on a high note, creating a comfortable advantage before the final ten minutes (30th minute 57-43).


Betti got the final stage of the game going with a lay-up, to which Virág added two more from the foul line, before Delic hit one from downtown (32nd minute 61-46). Boonstra and Jeca both made doubles, and then Delic hit another double for ZTE. Then Jeca made two free throws, while Boonstra scored a lay-up. Virág hit a huge triple to increase our lead to twenty for the first time in the game, and then Kovács cut into it a little by making two shots from the foul line (37th minute 74-56). In the last minutes we managed to hold on to our lead and won the game by fourteen points (40th minute 76-62).

Gáspár Dávid: Congratulations to ZTE! It wasn't an easy game, not exactly nice, either. It was a physical battle, but we were playing out of rhythm. It showed that we weren't able to do quality work in training in the last two weeks, and the number of practices wasn't enough either. It determines our game. An imprtant period is coming up, we will keep competing away from home against Vasas, where it is never easy to play. We would like to make progress game-by-game. I wish our opponents the best of luck to reach their goals!

Jelena Brooks: Congratulations to our opponents for their great performance. It was an especially physical game, until the very end. It was hard to play after a two-week long break. There were a lot of things today that we can learn from., and fix in the upcoming trainings. We have to look ahead and keep working!

Zsófia Horváth: Congratulations to Sopron for the win., but I think we can be satisfied with the outcome of the game, and the way the team looked after a two-week break. It is hard to play a game in this situation, and we got the best opponents for that, which will prepare us for the important tasks ahead of us, it showed what we have to improve on. Generally, I am proud of my team, everyone got a chance to play, and we were able to play a good game. Good luck for the rest of the season, we'll see each other in the Cup Finals!

Andela Delic: íit aówas a very physical game, as we expected. We tried to give our best, which we were able to do in the first half, but Sopron punished every mistake.