Task completed

Ludovika-FCSM Csata - Sopron Basket 60-73 (13-23, 17-17, 11-19, 19-14)
Budapest

Ludovika-FCSM Csata: Horváth B. 4, Balogh L. 3, Lelik 18/9, Zele 2, Carey 6 Sub.: Hegedűs 15/6, Simon Zs. 4, Böröndy V. 4, Gyöngyösi 4, Toman -

Sopron Basket: Fegyverneky 9/3, Jovanovic 8/3, Williams 19/9, Varga A. -, Határ 20 Sub.: Gaye 8, Sitku 7/3, Varga S. 2

Statistics

2-PTS: 19/48 40% ill. 24/51 47%

3-PTS: 5/13 38% ill. 6/10 60%

FTS: 7/9 78% ill. 7/10 70%

Rebounds: 30 (Hegedűs 9) ill. 40 (Williams, Jovanovic 8-8)

Assists: 14 (Horváth B. 7) ill. 21 (Fegyverneky 10)

Steals: 3 ill. 3

Turnovers: 9 ill. 10

Faults: 17 ill. 17

VAL: 79 (Lelik 24) ill. 114 (Williams 30)

We travelled to the fourth seed team in the championship, where we were accompanied by a great number of fans as well, and they let themselves be heard before tip-off already. Shey Peddy arrived to our team, but she wasn't at our head coach's service today just yet, so we started the game with the usual roster and starting five, too. We were able to greet some nice acquaintances - three former Sopron youth players beside Zsófi Simon - on the opposing side. However, on the court the girls faced each other as focused opponents.

	Photo: Ludovika-FCSM Csata/Szilágyi Dénes

Following a few unsuccessful possessions Gabby converted Neca's pass into points, and then she did the same thing with that of Zsófi (2nd minute 0-4). In the third minute we were able to witness another made Sopron shot, but Liza Balogh's three-point play meant Csata's first points (3-4). Five minutes into the game the first triple attempt found its way into the net by Gabby, and then Betti made another shot from just a step inside the 6,75 line (5-14). The first substitutes started coming in for both sides, and Janka hegedűs made her mark with a triple right away (6th minute 8-14). In the 9th minute we stood at double the amount of our hosts' scoring (10-20). That remained so until the end of the period (13-23). The blue and whites came closer to us with two outside shots by Lelik (13th minute 21-25). In the 16th minute Betti used her height well, forcing Krisztián Tursics to call a time-out (21-27). We were a bit more fatigued, and were late by a step on defense multiple times, of which Csata took advantage with accurate shots (18th minute 26-29). Despite that we were able to restore the double-digit difference by half-time (30-40).

The flow of the game didn't change after the break either, we had control. In the 22nd minute we asked for video review of a situation, and we were wrong to do so, which meant that we had lost a time-out. Meanwhile, we were able to increase the difference a bit (24th minute 34-49). In the middle of the quarter after Zsófi's double the home side signalled that they wanted to call a time-out (25th minute 36-53). Two minutes later Dávid Gáspár also called his team to the bench (27th minute 38-55). Our enthusiastic fans were cheering for the twenty-point advantage in the 29th minute (39-59). However, our next made basket came at the beginning of the fourth quarter as a result of a good decision by Neca (32nd minute 43-61). We were holding on to the advantage securely, but Csata played well, so we couldn't lose focus for even a second. In the latter case there always came a hit by the team from the capital (34th minute 47-61). There were a lot of points in the final minutes, with the decline on defense as a result of both teams being really tired (60-73).

We won't have time to rest tomorrow, since Tuesday morning we will be on the road again, to Istanbul, where our next Euroleague challenge against Fenerbahce awaits on Wednesday.

Dávid Gáspár: There were differences within the team in terms of focus and attention, even quite big ones, which is upsetting. These resulted in out-of-rhythm offenses, and lapses on defense. We are in a demanding period of time, but so are others, and it can't be an excuse. If we want to perform on a higher level, then the players have to be clear individually about being there in a game with a much higher level of focus, even if it hurts. All in all, I am happy about the win, and praised my team, but we always try to view the game searching for what we could have done better, what we could improve on in the future. Also, I wish Csata the best of luck for the future, they were tough opponents tonight.

Zsófia Fegyverneky: We are in a rough stretch, so the most important thing is that we won, which is not easy to do on the road against Csata. I feel like we controlled the game, even if we had some worse periods, when we couldn't play the way we said we would in advance. Congratulations to our opponents, they played well!