It was necessary to wait for the second round of the women’s Beticlic League, but, on the 14th round of the regular phase, Benfica achieved what, until now, no one had been able to achieve: beating Quinta dos Lombos.
Playing in Luz, the two-time national champions defeated the championship leaders by 50-49 (14-13, 13-13, 12-14, 11-9) in a clash that was more exciting than of a high technical level, it was disastrous in terms of three-point shots, but was only decided with the sound of the final whistle.
After Maria Bettencourt (5 pts, 7 res) put the hosts in command 48-42 with 3.41m to go, the eagles committed three turnovers in attack and missed four shots, two of them three-point shots, to try to kill the game.
However, the team led by José Leite, who this season had already defeated their opponents in the Super Cup (55-67) and in the 3rd round of the League (63-55), did not give up and believed in the turnaround. A three-pointer from Chanaya Pinto (9 pts, 12 res, 3 ass, 2 rbl) and baskets from Jasmine Powell (7) and Nahomis Hardy (8 pts, 7 res) put the Carcavelos team back in front (48-49), with 55s on the clock.
However, after more than three and a half minutes of drought, Inês Faustino (10 pts, 3 res) secured Benfica’s victory, their ninth consecutive victory in the competition, and which not even a desperate triple from Milica Ivanovic (17 pts, 3 res, 2 ass. 2 rbl) on the whistle could counter.
