BC "Elfiс Fribourg" (Switzerland) - BC "Prometey" (Ukraine) - 82:96 (26:15, 26:27, 15:23, 15:31). December 16. EuroCup Women. 1/16 finals. 1st match. Fribourg (Switzerland). "City Sport St. Leonard".
BC "Elfic Fribourg": Fogg * (11 + 9 rebounds + 5 assists), Fora * (13 + 5 assists), Zhiru * (26 + 12 rebounds), Jaco * (7), Croceli * (23), Dihigo- Bravo (2).
BC "Prometey": Dubrovina *, captain (8 + 8 assists), Atkins * (21 + 5 steals), Holmes * (22 + 6 assists + 4steals), Yurkevichus * (22 + 11 rebounds), Datsko * (3 ), Balaban (6), Babic (11), Rymarenko (3), Musiienko (0).
For the first time in its history, the women's team "Prometey" played a play-off match of the FIBA European Cup. Before the start of the two-round confrontation with the Swiss "Fribourg", it could be assumed that the level of rivalry at this stage of the playoffs will be higher than in the group stage, and the confrontation in the city, located in western Switzerland, fully confirmed these predictions.
From the first minutes, our team faced a very skilled opponent, whose 27th number in the rank of participating teams in the 1/16 finals could be said as pure convention. Fribourg won the first five minutes with a score of 15: 4. This was a reflection of both: the great mood of the Swiss club, whose players from the start managed throws from the perimeter (3 successful attempts), and the fact that "Prometey" entered the game for a long time (for example, at the end of the first minute Tetiana Yurkevichus managed only the fifth team throw from the game).
The first quarter also ended with the handicap of our team's opponent in 11 points, and in the 13th minute, when the "Fribourg" Slovenian point guard Alexandra Croseli made realized her third shot in the match from an arc, there were already 17 points. Unfortunately, our team continued to perform poorly in defense throughout the second quarter, which was evidenced by 52 points of the opponent in 20 minutes. However, this ten minutes was left for "Prometey", even if it was won minimally.
Both these 20 minutes and the next "Fribourg" played only with six basketball players. Only one player of the starting five - Canadian Abigail Fogg left the field for a while, and in the third quarter it became clear that "Fribourg" more or less copes with the speed of "Prometey" only at the cost of incredible efforts. In the 26th minute, Nikolina Babic finally equalised the score with a three-pointer (59:59), and at the end of the quarter, "Prometey" missed the opportunity to take the lead after Joyner Holmes did not supplement her successful pass with a bonus free throw.
Victoria Bolshakova's team pressed its opponent in the final ten minutes. "-3" in the 33rd minute, the champions of Ukraine turned into a solid advantage thanks to a 15-0 run, which formed 5 consecutive shots from the perimeter (first scored three times by Ariel Atkins, and then supported by Victoria Balaban and Tetiana Yurkevich). Fribourg has not recovered from such a blow.
"Prometey" not only obtained the away victory, but created a fairly comfortable handicap of 14 points before the second match in Slobozhansky, which will determine the winner of the ticket to the 1/8 finals of the tournament.
