After the feat of reaching the semifinals of the Queen’s Cup for the first time in history, the blow of reality arrived. Movistar Estudiantes could not withstand Valencia Basket’s devastating start, a 24-6 lead in the first quarter that marked the rest of the game. Although the schoolgirls reacted, they were never able to get close to an inaccessible rival (12 triples, 44 percent success rate) who always maintained an advantage close to twenty points.
SEMIFINAL OF THE QUEEN’S CUP
Valencia Basket 77 (24+20+13+20): Merritt Hempe (10), Nadia Fingall (10), Queralt Casas (8), Leticia Romero (16), Alina Iagupova (17) -starting five- María Erauncetamurgil, Cristina Ouviña (3), Elena Buenavida, Alba Torrens (13) , Awa Fam and Marie Gulick.
Movistar Students 50 (6+18+10+16): Stephanie Mawuli (11), Laura Méndez (2), Marena Whittle (4), Gracia Alonso de Armiño (10), Billie Massey (5) -starting five- Paula Saravia (3), Paulina Hersler (4), Sara Zaragoza ( 2), Paola de Mier, Juana Camilion (2) and Begoña de Santiago (7).
Referees: Carlos Javier García, Antonio Manuel Zamora and Fernando Ibáñez.
Statistics
DEPT. FBM COMMUNICATION
Photos: FEB
Movistar Estudiantes was playing for a place in the final against a Valencia Basket with two former Estu in their ranks: Nadia Fingall y Maria Eraucentamurgil. The schoolgirls started ahead (Stephanie Mawuli), but they immediately found themselves with an 8-0 score that made it clear how complicated the challenge was. He had to fight for every ball. So they did it Grace Alonso y Mawuli…but three times as much Leticia Ortiz extended the quarter (11-2 at 6:34) and caused the first timeout of David Gallego. Neither the player changes nor the defense changes had any effect. The triples of Fingall y Alina Iagupova They took the score to 23-2 before Estu broke their drought and added four more points.
Despite the distance, the schoolgirls did not give up. Quite the opposite. They started the second quarter with more intensity in defense and more daring in attack. First the Estu stopped the orange gale; Then he tried to close the distance. A triple of They are God It was 28-12; another, of Billie Massey, 28-15… Movistar Estudiantes tried to get involved in the game at all costs. The match was different, although conditioned by the legacy of the first quarter (38-20 at 3:00). And when Estu got within 14 (38-24), their rival went 6-0.
After the break, Movistar Estudiantes continued the fight, but in front of them they had a very solid rival, one of the great favorites of the competition, who did not offer a single loophole; especially Iagupova y Romero flies, hitting when it did the most damage. Therefore, during the third quarter the gap remained unchanged at around twenty points (49-27 at 5:30, 55-31 at 2:11…). Valencia Basket took advantage of the depth of its squad and reached the last period with +23 (57-34) and almost everything was decided. In the final stretch, David Gallego He gave out minutes, although that did not reduce his team’s fighting capacity (with tireless players like Grace Alonso or the captain Begoña de Santiago) against an inaccessible Valencia Basket. Good image to close a historic Cup.