Uni Girona had no room for error if they wanted to stay at the top of the league, and left no room for doubt. The women from Girona prevailed on the track of theIDK in Basque Country (53-68), in a game where they maintained dominance at all times and with a decisive 7-21 run in the second quarter they gained momentum and went from 15 to the final score. A result that gives them the pleasure of resting for another week at the top of the classification of the Leaguewith a balance so far of 21 points, 9 wins and 3 losses, sharing leadership with the Valenciaafter Barça lost on Saturday against theAvenida (67-54).
The start of the match was quite a one statement of intentions on the part of Girona. In just two minutes of the game, Uni already sealed a 0-10 start, with baskets by up to four players: wait, Murphy, Gardner i Cornelius. This gave rise to a total rotation, with the entry of Faustine Parra, Araujo, Labuckiene, Flores i Drammeh.
Araujo tried to stop IDK’s reaction with a block that ended with Drammeh’s three-pointer (14-18), but the home team’s answer would come shortly after. Yurena Diaz i Maria Spainwho scored two baskets in a row, allowed the locals to remain at only 3 points and close the first quarter, after a Labuckiene basket, with a 20-25 score.
The local momentum, however, would not last long. Uni, with one more march, scored, again, an initial half of 0-11 in the second quarter – with nine of the eleven points the work of Rebeka Gardner, who dominated the offensive side of the team becoming the top scorer of the game with up to 22 points, 11 rebounds and 31 rating-, until Muguruza called time out. Yurena Díaz broke Girona’s dominance with a free kick, but Cornelius didn’t leave time to breathe and together with Etxarri scored three baskets that would make it 21-42. With the dominance of the rebound, taking advantage of rival turnovers and with a very good defensive work, the Girona girls kept the locals against the ropes, allowing them to score only 7 points in the entire second quarter.
Uni knew that the third quarter was crucial to end the game, and so they did. A few much more erratic minutes, which the locals did not take advantage of, and more discreet in terms of scoring, but which followed the script of the first half, with a clear Girona dominance that led them to reach the maximum advantage of the match, with 23 distance points (33-56) after two free throws scored by Labuckiene.
In the last quarter, the Girona players were able to lower the intensity thanks to the work done in the first three quarters and the locals took the opportunity to close the gap, scoring up to 15 points. Even so, the women from Girona managed to take the match without suffering, with a final result of 53-68, and without scoring a single point by either team in the last minute of the game.
Without much time to recover, Uni already has to think about the visit of Euroliga de l’Avenida to Fontajau last tomorrow and that of Cadí la Seu on Friday, with the pressure of not being able to lower our guard to maintain the good feelings and continue to make our way towards the goals.
