Basketball - Eurocup Women

Quote from Bartek

The EuroCup Women Quarter-Finals:

Nantes Reze FRA (8] v Chevakata Vologda RUS (1) 83-70 ,

Mann Filter Zaragoza ESP (10) v Sony Athinaikos Byron GRE (2) 53-53,

Gran Canaria Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ESP (6) v Elitzur Ramla ISR (14) 54-78 ,

Arras FRA (12) v Dynamo GUVD Novosibirsk RUS (13) 76-67,

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I hope Zaragoza will win the second match in Greece. Sony Athinaikos should play in the Euroleague.

The EuroCup Women Quarter-Finals:

Nantes Reze FRA (8] v Chevakata Vologda RUS (1) 83-70 ,

Mann Filter Zaragoza ESP (10) v Sony Athinaikos Byron GRE (2) 53-53,

Gran Canaria Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ESP (6) v Elitzur Ramla ISR (14) 54-78 , 72-76 .

Arras FRA (12) v Dynamo GUVD Novosibirsk RUS (13) 76-67, 87-65.

The EuroCup Women Quarter-Finals:

Nantes Reze FRA (8] v Chevakata Vologda RUS (1) 83-70 , 72-92.

Mann Filter Zaragoza ESP (10) v Sony Athinaikos Byron GRE (2) 53-53, 62-74.

Gran Canaria Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ESP (6) v Elitzur Ramla ISR (14) 54-78 , 72-76 .

Arras FRA (12) v Dynamo GUVD Novosibirsk RUS (13) 76-67, 87-65.

The EuroCup Women Semi-Finals:

Arras FRA (12) v Chevakata Vologda RUS (1)

Elitzur Ramla ISR (14) v Sony Athinaikos Byron GRE (2)

Elitzur Ramla - Sony Athinaikos

Channel 11 (Israel) 19:00 (live)
ERT Sport+ (Greece) 19:00 (live)

The EuroCup Women Semi-Finals:

Arras FRA (12) v Chevakata Vologda RUS (1) 67-66 <10-23, 11-12, 22-23, 24-8>

Elitzur Ramla ISR (14) v Sony Athinaikos Byron GRE (2) 74-59 <21-9, 10-14, 21-21, 22-15>

Quote from Bartek

Arras FRA (12) v Chevakata Vologda RUS (1) 67-66 <10-23, 11-12, 22-23, 24-8>

Chevakata collapsed in the fourth quarter and lost the first leg of their EuroCup Women Semi-Final at Arras on Thursday night.

Having trailed 50-29 late in the third quarter, the French team ended up winning 67-66.

Congolese power forward Pauline Akonga poured in 21 points to lead Arras, who will try to take the momentum of the comeback to Russia next week for the second leg.

Akonga had 11 of her points in the fight-back.

Chevakata's Maria Cherepanova drilled a three-pointer to give the visitors a 58-45 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Akonga began the fourth with a lay-up and a jumper before young Ukrainian Olesia Malashenko drilled a jump shot.

Fouled on the play, she made the free-throw to cut the gap to 58-50.

Another Malashenko jumper with 20 seconds to go would end up accounting for the last points of the game and giving the hosts the one-point first-leg triumph.

France international Johanne Gomis played had 14 points for the winners.

Quote from Bartek

Elitzur Ramla ISR (14) v Sony Athinaikos Byron GRE (2) 74-59 <21-9, 10-14, 21-21, 22-15>

Elitzur Ramla went on a 16-3 run over the last 5:46 of the game and claimed a 74-59 victory over defending champions Sony Athinaikos in the first leg of their EuroCup Women Semi-Final.

Playing at home, the Israeli club got a game-high 22 points from Le'Coe Willingham.

Adan Inbar's team will attempt to finish Athinaikos off on March 3 when they travel to Greece for the second leg.

After storming into a big early lead, Ramla allowed the visitors to battle back.

Athinaikos pulled to within 58-56 with 6:24 to play on a lay-up by Latoya Davis.

Ramla's Willingham went in for a lay-up and Shay Doron followed with a jump shot to ignite the scoring burst for the hosts at the end of the game, though, and the Ramla defense also wreaked havoc on Athinaikos.

By the end of the game, Athinaikos had turned the ball over 20 times, including a game-high seven by their Greece international point guard Dimitra Kalentzou.

The visitors also shot themselves in the foot at the free-throw line, making just 10 of 18 on the night.

The EuroCup Women Semi-Finals:

Arras FRA (12) v Chevakata Vologda RUS (1) 67-66 , 67-67. ... 1 point

Elitzur Ramla ISR (14) v Sony Athinaikos Byron GRE (2) 74-59

Do not under any circumstances, if you are an Elitzur Ramla coach, player or fan, believe that a 15-point, first-leg triumph in Israel over Sony Athinaikos has all but put your team into the EuroCup Women Final.

A tough second leg awaits Ramla in Athens on Thursday against the defending champions, just as Arras will have a real battle on their hands when they take a one-point lead to Chevakata in Russia.

In the first legs of the Semi-Finals, there have been huge scoring runs already.

Big leads mean nothing.

Who would have thought that Chevakata, leading 50-29 with 3:48 to play in the third quarter at Arras, would end up losing 67-66?

For Sony Athinaikos, it's all about learning from the mistakes of the 74-59 defeat in Israel and remembering that they are the defending champions.

"First of all, we have 40 more minutes so nothing is finished yet," Athinaikos guard Dimitra Kalentzou warned.

"For sure the aggregate of 15 points is a disadvantage for us, but I trust my team and my teammates a lot.

"I don't think that we are going to repeat the bad performance of the first game."

The Elitzur Ramla victory last week wasn't really a surprise, but the margin of the triumph was, along with the way Athinaikos played late in the contest.

Athinaikos fell behind 18-5 in the opening frame and the deficit grew to 29-15 with 3:31 to go in the second quarter after a Le'Coe Willingham lay-up.

The Greek side reeled off eight consecutive points to close the gap to 29-23, a spurt in which Kalentzou buried a three-ball and fellow Greece international Olga Chatzinikolaou handed out two assists and made a lay-up.

But a Tanasha Wright lay-up for Ramla took their lead back to 31-23 at half-time.

In the third quarter, instead of chipping further away at the deficit, Athinaikos lost ground.

After an Ana Baletic shot from the arc for Athinaikos cut the deficit to 39-34, Wright went to the other end and drilled a three-ball.

She then gave excellent Athinaikos defender Chatzinikolaou a taste of her own medicine by swiping the ball, and Ramla's Shay Doron ended up getting a three-point play shortly after.

Ruth Riley replied with a three-point play for Athinaikos, but a Willingham lay-up and a three-pointer by Rivi Grinboym stretched the lead back to 50-37.

When Willingham made two free-throws with 1:06 to go in the frame, the Elitzur Ramla fans were beginning to celebrate because their team had a 52-38 advantage.

Athinaikos played their best, and worst basketball in the last 11 minutes of the game.

They closed the third quarter with a basket by Riley, two Aikaterina Sotiriou free-throws and an Iouliti Lymoura lay-up.

Riley finished the 8-0 run with another lay-up to start the fourth to trim the deficit to 52-46.

When Latoya Davis made a lay-up to cap another 8-0 run with 6:24 to play, Athinaikos were only behind 58-56 and the Greeks also had the momentum.

Ramla coach Adan Inbar then watched his team rev up the defense and they seized the initiative once again.

Kalentzou had the ball stolen by Willingham, who shortly after grabbed an offensive rebound off a Doron miss and scored on the put-back.

After a Chatzinikolaou turnover, Kalentzou missed a three-ball and then Doron hit a jumper to give Ramla a 62-56 lead with 4:32 to play.

The visitors would go on to make five turnovers, contributing to a 12-1 run for the hosts that put them on top, 74-57.

A Lymoura jumper reduced the arrears to 15 points by the end of the game but the Athinaikos players walked off the court with a stunned look on their faces.

"The problem was the combination of the (Ramla) defensive pressure and our bad game," Kalentzou said.

"The worst thing was our last four minutes.

"The aggregate was two points and from our mistakes, it went up to 15."

Expect a different game in Greece, Kalentzou says.

"We will play at our home and we want to go to the Final again," she said.

"I am sure that our fans will support us and they will be our sixth player."

Quote from Bartek

Arras FRA (12) v Chevakata Vologda RUS (1) 67-66 , 67-67. ... 1 point

France international Johanne Gomis buried a jump shot in the waning seconds at Chevakata on Thursday to earn Arras a place in the EuroCup Women Finals.

Leading by a point on aggregate after last week's first leg, Arras ended up with a 67-67 tie in the second encounter thanks to the late Gomis basket and will now play for a European trophy.

Gomis had a strong game, playing all 40 minutes and scoring 18 points while also leading her side defensively with eight steals.

Pauline Akonga had 18 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for Arras, who will face the winner of Elitzur Ramla's tie with Sony Athinaikos.

Ramla won the first leg in Israel last week by 15 points and will play the second against the defending champions in Greece on Thursday night.

Chevakata will know they lost this tie when blowing a 21-point lead in the first leg in France.

Their collapse allowed Arras to come back and post a 67-66 win and travel to Russia with confidence.

The French team seemed to take a firm grip on the contest when two Gomis three-pointers stretched their lead to 57-47 with 6:38 remaining on Thursday.

Maria Cherepanova and Elena Danilochkina replied with shots from the arc for Chevakata, however, and Jessica Davenport, who had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the hosts, added two free-throws to reduce the deficit to two.

After Arras stretched their lead back to six, Davenport put Chevakata on her shoulders.

She drew a foul from Akonga and made two free-throws and then, after two missed shots at the stripe for Leilani Mitchell of Arras, knocked down a jumper.

Fouled on the play, she sank the free-throw to reduce the deficit to 61-60 with 1:39 to play.

A pair of Sarah Michel free-throws pushed the lead back to three, only for Chevakata to knot the game at 63-63 with an Elena Volkova three-ball.

The Arras hopes began to fade as Cherepanova made three of four free-throws for a 66-63 Chevakata advantage.

Gomis missed from the arc and Chevakata rebounded but after Krissy Bade fouled Volkova, the Russian missed both free-throws.

Davenport grabbed the offensive rebound but Gomis reached in and came up with one of her steals before scoring on a fast break to reduce the arrears to 66-65.

Loree Moore made one of two free-throws for Chevakata, but Gomis hit the game-tying bucket at the end as Arras tied the game and won the Semi-Final by a single point on aggregate.

The EuroCup Women Semi-Finals:

Arras FRA (12) v Chevakata Vologda RUS (1) 67-66 , 67-67.

Elitzur Ramla ISR (14) v Sony Athinaikos Byron GRE (2) 74-59 , 81-88.

Elitzur Ramla lost 88-81 at Sony Athinaikos on Thursday night but still progressed to the Finals of the EuroCup Women.

After winning the opening leg 74-59 in Israel, Ramla did enough in Athens to beat the defending champions by eight points on aggregate in the Semi-Final and ensure they will play for the title.

Their opponents will be Arras of France, winners against Chevakata in the other Semi-Final.

The Greeks, who got 18 points from Katerina Zohnová and 16 from Dimitra Kalentzou in Thursday's second leg, went in front by as many as eight points late in the third quarter.

A Rivi Grinboym three-ball, Tanasha Wright lay-up and another Grinboym three-ball brought Ramla right back to knot the game at 59-59 with 9:48 to play in the game.

Sony Athinaikos managed to go back on top by eight in the final minute but Ramla, who got 20 points apiece from Grinboym and Shay Doron, did enough to win the game.

Quote from Bartek

The EuroCup Women Final:

Elitzur Ramla ISR (14) v Arras FRA (12)

Tomorrow 18.00 CET LIVE: http://www.fibatv.com/page/fib…e/0,,12805~629333,00.html

12. Marielle Amant (Arras)
"No pressure so far" says Marielle Amant ahead of the first EuroCup Women Final on Thursday

Elitzur Ramla and Arras Pays D'Artois are nearing the end of a long journey.

The two sides are squaring off in the first leg of the EuroCup Women Finals, a competition that tipped off at the end of October, on Thursday.

When asked about his hopes before Arras' departure for Israel, coach Bruno Blier said: " A good organization, a good training and preparation the day before the game."

And he imagined what the first encounter would be like for Arras, who have had a remarkable run considering this is their first-ever season in a European competition.

"The pressure is going to grow step by step," Blier said.

"They will enter the game smoothly, quietly."

Elitzur Ramla like to press opponents and harass them into making mistakes.

That was the biggest failure of Athinaikos, to cave in against them at the end of the opening leg in Israel.

The Greeks weren't able to overcome the 15-point first-leg deficit when they met in Athens.

The Arras players know that a lot of people back in France will be pulling for them.

"We will do our best to not disappoint our fans," guard Sarah Michel said.

Perhaps two reasons why Arras have been able to cope with the pressures of the EuroCup Women has been the presence of two national teams players, Johanne Gomis and Mariella Amant, who were able to compete for France last summer at the FIBA World Championship for Women.

Amant, a 21-year-old power forward/center, understands what big games are all about.
10. Olesia Malashenko (Arras)
Arras Power Forward Olesia Malashenko finished third in the Young Women's Player of the Year voting and is now in her first European Final

"There is no pressure so far in the team but it will grow few hours before the game," she said.

Arras president Jean Louis Monneret is very upbeat ahead of the Finals because of what transpired in the Semi-Finals.

The French outfit battled back from a 21-point deficit to shock Chevakata 67-66 in the first leg of their Semi-Final, and then in Russia Arras got a jump shot from Johanne Gomis in the closing stages to knot the contest at 67-67.

That gave the team a one-point win on aggregate.

"The pressure they got during the last game will serve them to enter in this game," he said.

Elitzur Ramla will be believing this is their year, though.

The club has been impressive on the road to the Finals.

Ramla beat Dynamo Moscow in the Eighth Finals, Gran Canaria in the Quarter-Finals and defending champions Sony Athinaikos in the Semis.

As for the protagonists in this series, there are plenty of names to consider.

Le'Coe Willingham has led Ramla with averages of 19.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, but it was Shay Doron and Rivi Grinboym who each poured in 20 points to lead the team at Sony Athinaikos, where they lost 88-81 but still won the tie on aggregate.

In addition to Gomis, who had eight steals in the win over Chevakata, Pauline Akonga has been hell on opponents.

She has averaged 17.3 points and 7.6 rebounds.

Elitzur Ramla battled back from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Arras on Thursday night to draw the first leg of the EuroCup Women Final.

Playing at home in Israel, Ramla trailed for most of the game but launched a stirring fight-back in the last frame with the game ending 61-61.

The second leg will be played in France next week.

Ramla, who ended the title defense of Sony Athinaikos in the Semi-Finals, trailed 51-39 after a lay-up by the excellent Olesia Malashenko of Arras.

With the hosts chipping away at the deficit, Ukraine international Malashenko drilled a three-pointer with 3:32 to take her team's advantage back to 56-47.

Tanasha Wright scored for Elitzur Ramla, only for Krissy Bade of Arras to lay one up and in with 2:03 to play to make it 58-49.

Adan Inbar's Ramla side dug deep.

Le'Coe Willingham scored on a put-back of Wright's missed lay-up and drew a foul before turning it into a three-point play.

Laine Selwyn followed with a three-ball for her first points of the game before Shay Doron sank two free-throws to reduce the arrears to 58-57 with 48 seconds still to play.

Arras coach Bruno Blier called a timeout to settle his troops down and when play resumed, Pauline Akonga drew a foul from Willingham and made one of two.

Shay Doron leveled the contest at 59-59 only for Akonga to get back to the stripe and sink two more for a 61-59 Arras lead 16 seconds from time.

Ramla leveled the game again, though, when Doron fed Willingham and the American powered her way up for another lay-up, and a game-high 23 points.

Wright poured in 17 points and corralling 12 rebounds.

Malashenko's 18 points led Arras while France international Marielle Amant had a game-high 13 rebounds to go with her eight points.

Ramla struggled offensively, shooting just 33.9% (21 of 62) from the floor while Arras were 25 of 63.

Ramla had a nightmare from long range, sinking just two of 21 attempts, while also making 17 of 28 free-throws.

Arras were five of 13 from three-point range and six of 12 at the stripe.

Elitzur Ramla as the Winner has the provided participation in the Euroleague Women 2011/2012. The Club must accomplish only the organisational requirements.