The fairytale continues: Villeneuve d'Ascq beat Praha to punch first ever Final ticket

MERSIN (Türkiye) - The history books continue to be re-written by French side Villeneuve d'Ascq LM who beat ZVVZ USK Praha 84-78 in a nail-biter to reach their maiden EuroLeague Women Final.

Having never even made the post-season previously, they’re now loving life at their first Final Four after becoming the first French team to make the Final in two decades.

Turning Point: Praha pulled it back to a one-shot game inside the last minute, but Janelle Salaun evaded the defensive attention next time down the floor to score an uncontested layup and that helped seal the deal.

Game Heroes: Kamiah Smalls was terrific and led the way with an all-action 18 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Meanwhile the loss was tough to swallow for French winger Valeriane Ayayi, who dropped a season-high 24 points in defeat for Praha.

Stats Don't Lie: Villeneuve were super-controlled with the ball and only spilled it 10 times which for a huge and historical game like this, was a super effort. 

Bottom Line: This was another glorious moment for Villeneuve d'Ascq LM and it was a typically great team effort which is almost always their way. While Smalls grabbed the headlines, there were a strong of cameo performances that underpinned this famous success. Not least from frontcourt duo Janelle Salaun and Kariata Diaby who posted 15 and 14 points respectively.

Praha didn't execute when it mattered most and were mediocre in the third quarter when they allowed Villeneuve to truly believe. They were kept off the offensive glass and only scored single digits in second chance points which was not good enough. Especially combined with the lack of intense ball pressure and they certainly missed the quality and experience of injured captain, Teja Oblak.

What They Said: "It's exciting. I don't think it is a big surprie to us. It's crazy and it is a great feeling to advance. A lot of teams and people under-estimated us coming into the tournament. We played with a lot of heart and got what we deserved." Kamiah Smalls, Villeneuve d'Ascq LM

"My first feeling is to be happy for my players. They deserve to win this Semi-Final. I left the locker room with some crazy people. For 40 minutes we deserved our win." - Rachid Meziane, Villeneuve d'Ascq LM

"They deserved the game 100 percent. It was not about losing the game, it is about not playing the way that we wanted to." - Valeriane Ayayi, ZVVZ USK Praha

"It is really sad to have back to back Semi-Finals and not win. I am really disappointed as I feel the team was ready. But not everyone was in the best shape." - Natalia Hejkova, ZVVZ USK Praha

Post-Game Press Conference:

 FIBA