Ehe Casademont Zaragoza will play the final of the Copa de la Reina for the first time. The hosts worked the miracle and defeated Valencia Basket, coming back from a game that they lost by 13 points. Three consecutive triples from a huge and highly inspired Vega Gimeno (who finished the game with a 6/10 in triples) revolutionized the more than 8,800 people from Príncipe Felipe who stood up to celebrate the feat.
Nerves got the better of the host team when they went out onto the parquet. The Maño team conceded an initial 10-2 run led by Raquel Carrerea (9 points in the first quarter) that forced Carlos Cantero to stop the game. Rubén Burgos’s players went into annihilating mode and Lauren Cox put the maximum difference (20-7) on the scoreboard to the astonishment of the host bench.
Exchange of roles in the second quarter. Lara González lit the pavilion placing his team at eight. The taronja were running dry in attack, without scoring for practically five minutes and with just six points in the entire period. A three-pointer from Fiebich and two more from Vega Gimeno served to get their teammates back into the match (32-30). Imani Tate took over from them to maintain the hand thread and the 8,876 attendees to the match -a historical figure- arrived at the break seeing a tie (34-34) on the scoreboard.
Casas and Carrera shoot at Valencia Basket
Queralt Casas broke the equality with a triple and Valencia took advantage of Raquel Carrera to stretch the score. It seemed that Rubén Burgos’s players were getting the score back on track, but Imani Tate hit it from three to tie the match again (41-41). Markesha Gatling turned the score around with a mid-range shot and nerves began to bloom after a 5-0 run for Zaragoza, which placed a maximum advantage of +5 on the scoreboard.
The Príncipe Felipe de Zaragoza pavilion registered an attendance of 8,876 spectators, a record attendance for a Queen’s Cup.
Raquel Carrera continued to do her thing and prevailed in the area to put her team within one (47-48) but the locals gave a new blow after a three-pointer from Alonso. Ortiz stretched the score from the free kick but four consecutive points from Ouviña tied the game again. Vega Gimeno, with a wrist touched by the Virgen del Pilar, appeared with three triples to put his team ahead again (59-62). The Tate-Gatling combination stretched the score to +5 and a 2+1 from Fiebich made it 59-67 with two minutes remaining. Mariona Ortiz tied the bow to a historic game from the free kick and the fans celebrated by singing: “Ole mañas, oe”.
Datasheet:
59 – Valencia Basket (28+6+11+14): Leti Romero (2), Casas (13), Burdick (-), Carrera (24), Cox (5) -first five- Torrens (3), Ouviña (6), Buenavida (-), Salvadores (1) and Gulich (5).
74 – Casademont Zaragoza (18+16+14+26): Mariona Ortiz (7), Oma (2), Fiebich (16), Vega Gimeno (18), Gatling (8) -starting five- Tate (11), Grande (5), Lara González (2), Geldolf (-) and Gracia Alonso (5).
Referees: Jacobo Rial, Paula Lema and Cristina Adam.
Incidences: first semifinal of the Copa de la Reina played in the Príncipe Felipe pavilion in Zaragoza in front of 8,876 spectators, a figure that represents a record attendance in this competition.
