VILLENEUVE D'ASCQ (France) - Villeneuve d'Ascq LM are celebrating a second EuroCup Women crown after they made home advantage pay with an 84-70 second leg Finals success against Spanish underdogs BAXI Ferrol.
Holding a modest three-point advantage from a thrilling first matchup on Spanish soil, Villeneuve proved too good on the night as they finished the job in style for a 17-point aggregate triumph.
It also marked the end of a truly remarkable rookie season for Ferrol, who having had to come through the Qualifiers, can reflect with pride on having taken an unlikely Finals spot.
Turning point
The second quarter was when the hosts turned a hill into more of a mountain for Ferrol. A Marie-Eve Paget triple put Villeneuve 32-20 ahead and 15 on aggregate. Ferrol's problems were soon compounded further by the influential Claire Melia picking up her third foul.
Then when home favorite Shavonte Zellous drained a downtown score on the half-time buzzer, it always looked a long way back - and so it proved.
Game heroes
Zellous used all of her experience to terrific effect and got Villeneuve off to a lightning start. Into double-digits in the first quarter, she eventually harvested 23 points and that came alongside 16 points and 7 assists for young gun Carla Leite who was named MVP.
Julie Pospisilova impressed in defeat with 19 points, 5 boards and 3 assists.
Stats don't lie
Villeneuve played with tremendous control when they had the ball and particularly in the context of this being a game to win EuroCup Women. Despite that excitement and pressure, they only turned the ball over 11 times and combined with 25 points off the bench compared to 8 for Ferrol, that was significant.
Bottom Line
Villeneuve simply had far too much on the night for Ferrol and they used their superior physicality brilliantly to wear down their opponents. Massive credit must go to playcaller Maxim Bezine who had to pick up the coaching reins mid-season from the departed Rachid Meziane.
His team rode their luck at times through this campaign, but they showed a lot of heart and nice basketball to deliver a wonderful and memorable success - built around that brilliant backcourt partnership of Leite and Zellous and plenty of muscle in the paint.
What a ride it has been for Ferrol and while ultimately left empty-handed and disappointed to have fallen at the very last hurdle, few if anybody could have ever envisaged them making it to the last game of the season and fighting for silverware.
Coach Lino Lopez and his players have all punched way above their weight in a fabulous Cinderella story. Meanwhile, their fans have also left a lasting impression after incredible support in the Finals.
FIBA