The Hungarian Sopron Basket separated Perfumerías Avenida from the dream of winning the Euroleague women’s basketball title after winning this Friday by 69-74 in the first semifinal of the ‘Final Four’ that is being played in Istanbul.
The Salamanca team will not be eligible for their second continental title after 2011 nor will they repeat last year’s final of the top club competition after a game in which they were always in tow and in which both the start as in the decisive moments in which he was able to squeeze his rival much more.
Roberto Íñiguez’s team gave up too much of an advantage to Sopron, who clearly dominated until the final quarter and led by a great Jelena Brooks, unstoppable especially in the first half and scorer of 27 points, who was key along with Bernadett Hatar, who signed a great ‘double-double’ with 15 and 10 rebounds.
Perfumerías Avenida, on the other hand, could only find the good work of Kahleah Cooper on the offensive level, ‘MVP’ of the Regular Phase and who led the Spanish team with 23 points, being the only player who contributed double figures.
The ticket to the final was uphill from the initial jump. Brooks had the success that the Salamanca team did not have and the Hungarian team was able to take off over ten points. Perfumerías Avenida, who could only score 13 points at the end of the first quarter, reacted and got closer to the scoreboard again (20-24), but could never press the scoreboard any further despite their attempts. Sopron continued to dominate and reached the break with the duel well on track (31-47).
The script did not change too much after passing through the changing rooms and David Gaspar’s team was able to manage comfortable rents to reach the final ten minutes still well ahead (52-64) despite the fact that Gaby Williams, well supported, missed three free throws with time running out.
But Perfumerías Avenida did not give up. He pressed on defense and found Cooper to regain his chances of being in the final. A triple from the American put him very close again (64-68) and he even had possession to get within two, but he did not take advantage of it and Sopron managed to manage the final stages to keep the ticket for the title.
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