Bourges Basket stride towards Quarter-Finals, rare draw for AZS UMCS Lublin and LDLC ASVEL Feminin

MUNICH (Germany) - Tango Bourges Basket are eyeing up the EuroCup Women Quarter-Finals after an eye-catching Round of 8 first leg road win in Greece, while there was no daylight between AZS UMCS Lublin and LDLC ASVEL Feminin.

Bourges mostly had some excellent second-quarter defense to thank for their impressive 73-60 victory at Olympiacos S.F.P. It was honors even with 10 minutes on the clock and they subsequently locked down their hosts with a super 19-6 run leading up to half-time.

That put them into the ascendency and they managed to retain their advantage when the final buzzer sounded thanks to some good late work from the likes of Iliana Rupert.

Laetitia Guapo led the way with a brilliant 8-of-10 shooting effort as she netted a sparkling 20 points, as well as claiming 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Her 20-year-old backcourt partner Pauline Astier also shone brightly and showed deadly accuracy in her shooting with 13 points, going 6-of-9 from the field.

Anna Stamolamprou was arguably the only Olympiacos player to find a high gear, racking up 25 points in defeat and they have a big task ahead in the return leg if they want to make the next phase.

Natasha Mack stood up with a towering performance for Polish club AZS UMCS Lublin like always, but even her mammoth 17 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocks were not enough to take down LDLC ASVEL Feminin.

The French visitors benefited from a big three-pointer by Alexia Chartereau in the closing seconds to seal a rare 66-66 tie in the first leg matchup. The LDLC ASVEL Feminin forward eventually registered 17 points.

Meanwhile, in addition to the stellar showing from Mack, Lublin were also fuelled by 17 points, 7 assists and 5 boards from Kamiah Smalls.

FIBA