Hatay, Reyer Venezia and Perfumerias Avenida take last spots for Semi-Finals
MUNICH (EuroCup Women) - It proved to be a dramatic night in the second legs of the Quarter-Finals as Hatay, Reyer Venezia and Perfumerias Avenida all advanced to the Semi-Finals.
With Galatasaray winning their own thriller 24 hours earlier, they were joined by another Turkish club in the form of Hatay. They had lost the first match-up by two points in France against ESBVA-LM, but eased their way to an 84-71 success in Antakya.
As usual, the victory was underpinned by a customary double-double by Courtney Paris, but it was 30 points from Leilani Mitchell which stole the show.
"We worked harder for this game as we were very sad after we lost in France," said the Australian guard.
"We did exactly what our coaches asked us to do. In the first quarter, we played really well and in the second period, we lost some control.
"The good thing is that we came back in the third quarter and made the Semi-Finals. We are so happy and our goal is to now play in the Final."
Mersin had hoped to make it a Turkish trio in the Semi-Finals but suffered a gut-wrenching exit. The tears of despair flowed as they won 60-65 at Reyer Venezia but were eliminated after losing by 6 at home last week.
To make matters worse, the home side made a four-point play on the buzzer to snatch a Semi-Finals spot when they had looked dead and buried. Debora Carangelo will be remembered for her amazing last second intervention, but in reality, it was 25 points from the on-fire Riquna Williams that made the great escape of Reyer Venezia possible.
Perfumerias Avenida were ahead by 17 points from their clash in Orenburg against Nadezhda and were given a wake-up call at half-time when the visitors were in the lead by 9. But, they woke up and eventually rode to a 91-72 win as a 9-of-10 shooting effort for 24 points by Kim Mestdagh helped her team take the last Semi-Finals slot.
You can see how the day unfolded via our Live Updates.
FIBA
