MUNICH (Germany) - Elitzur Holon and Ramat Hasharon flew the flag high for Israeli basketball as both took wins in the first leg of the EuroCup Women Qualifiers.

Elitzur Holon had to work hard to see off Esperides Kallitheas as they came from behind to claim a 78-73 success and secured a modest advantage to take into next week's second leg meeting in Greece.

The victory was founded on a rare triple-double from Jennie Simms who showed out as she amassed 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Her Holon colleague Courtney Hurt also went to work for the hosts and registered a super double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds. 

Esperides Kallitheas struggled from range, but did have some valuable scoring contributions from Sarah Toeaina and Valerie Higgins, who both netted 19 points.

Ramat Hasharon will take a lead into the second leg in Budapest next week

A blistering 25-7 first quarter was vital in Ramat Hasharon completing a 70-62 win against Ludovika Csata as they dealt with a strong comeback bid in the final minutes from the visitors.

There were two big double-doubles for the home team, with Alisia Jenkins weighing in with a mammoth 17 points and 16 rebounds, while Charli Collier harvested 15 points and 10 boards.

Ludovika Csata still have a foothold in the tie thanks mainly to Jaelyn Brown who had 23 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists in defeat with the return leg taking place next Thursday. 

FIBA