ESP - Ros Casares win Copa de La Reina (+ Video)

SEVILLE (Copa de La Reina) - Ros Casares edged Baloncesto San José 68-66 on Sunday in a thrilling final to retain the Copa de La Reina title and capture their second major honor of the season.

And Ros Casares coach Manolo Real breathed a huge sigh of relief after the triumph.

"We knew it wasn´t going to be easy," he said.

"This is a final and we´ve won thanks to the work and attitude of the team."

The Valencia club, who beat Halcon Avenida 68-61 in the Super Copa back on October 19, led San José 66-60 with five minutes remaining but went ice cold for the remainder of the game.

San José's Israel international Liron Cohen nailed a three-pointer to cut Ros Casares' advantage to 68-66 with 37 seconds remaining and then had a chance to send the game to overtime but missed a jumper at the buzzer.

Cohen's performance - she averaged better than 16 points a game in the tournament - nevertheless earned her the Most Valuable Player award.

She has tormented Ros Casares this season, pouring in 33 on February 10 when San Jose handed the Valencia team just their second defeat of the campaign.

Both she and Spain's EuroBasket Women star Cindy Lima had 12 points in the final.

Ros Casares guard Katie Douglas led all scorers with 18 points while veteran Elena Tornikidou added 16.

"This team is not designed to just reach finals but to actually win them. We have learned to suffer in order to win," said Ros Casares captain Elisa Aguilar.

Ros Casares lead by just one game over Halcon Avenida and San José in the Liga Femenina, while in the EuroLeague they are taking on Gambrinus Sika Brno in the quarter-final round, which tips off on February 26.

Baloncesto San José, meanwhile, competed in the EuroCup Women this season but were eliminated in the sixteenth-finals by Schio of Italy.

Highlights

FIBA