ZARAGOZA (Spain) - ZVVZ USK Praha recorded the first ever victory at the inaugural EuroLeague Women Final Six as they eased past Beretta Famila Schio 79-72 to secure a spot among the top four teams in the competition.
Their Quarter-Finals success was built firmly around their superior depth and a strong display from Brionna Jones. Ultimately they just had too much in the tank for a Schio team that had been left left short-handed after the influential Ivana Dojkic was ruled out due to illness.
Turning point
It was all locked up at 30-30 with five minutes to play until the halftime break, but Praha then took the initiative. A powerful 17-5 run culminated in a triple from Teja Oblak and that gave them a handy double-digit cushion. Schio worked to erase the deficit in the second half and briefly made it a one-shot game, but never got over the hump.
Game heroes
Brionna Jones finished with a super smart 17 points and 5 rebounds for Praha. There was also a big display from Valeriane Ayayi who harvested 19 points, while Ezi Magbegor stepped off the bench and grabbed 13 boards.
Stats don't lie
Praha sunk a superb 56.4 percent from two-point range and that was devastating. They also outrebounded Schio 41-28 which helped them get over the line.
Bottom line
While it was an unconvincing first 15 minutes from Praha, their run leading up to the interval showed their potential to give Fenerbahce Opet a big test in Friday's Semi-Final. If Ayayi on the wing and Jones under the basket can both do the business again on Friday, then stepping out in Sunday's Final is maybe not beyond them. But they will have to look after the ball much better as there were many unforced turnovers in this one.
Schio shot the ball well from long-range in the opening 15 minutes and despite their shorter rotation, managed to cause their opponents some headaches. It was a gutsy display and they showed a lot of heart, but didn't have enough under the hoop for the kind of balanced offensive display required to move to the next phase. The free-scoring Kitija Laksa getting into foul trouble didn't help either.
They said
"It feels good that we stay alive to play another day. We wanted to come out and put our best foot forward and we did that in the first half. They were able to make a run and we withstood that. I still remember that loss to Schio at home [in the 2023 Third Place Game] when they made the shot at the end of the game. So, this one was special. Every time we step on the court, we are ready to compete with the best." - ZVVZ USK Praha center Brionna Jones "It was an interesting game. Especially the first half in the last five minutes. I said it was not done [at half-time] and we had to fight for another 20 minutes. But there were many mistakes and they were not under pressure. In defense we kept the level up and that was most important thing. We have played Fenerbahce twice this season and we played two close games and this is bad because they won't underestimate us. We have to be ready physically and mentally if we want to beat them." - ZVVZ USK Praha head coach Natalia Hejkova
"For us it was a tough loss because we really wanted this win. It’s hard to put into words as it is painful. We started the game very soft. They played the first half better than us and we had to chase the whole game. You can’t chase a team like Prague. They are experienced and have great players. They are at the top of EuroLeague Women every year for a reason. This is basketball, we accept, learn and move on." - Beretta Famila Schio guard Giorgia Sottana "We were 100 percent sure we could win this game. We had the [Ivana] Dojkic loss with stomach problems. We also had Kitija Laksa with a fourth foul and this disorganised us at both ends of the floor. In general, I am proud of my team because we fought until the end of the game and we came back. But it didn't happen. We have to learn and now we have the Italian championship in front of us." - Beretta Famila Schio head coach Georgios Dikaioulakos
FIBA