ZARAGOZA (Spain) - Fenerbahce Opet have been crowned EuroLeague Women champions for a third time and it tasted extra sweet after they claimed a 68-55 win against fierce rivals Galatasaray Cagdas Faktoring. For 12 years, Galatasaray have had boasting rights after winning the only previous Final meeting between the teams.
But now the triumphant Fenerbahce have erased that and also made up for the disappointment of losing in last year's Semi-Finals on the same court in Zaragoza.
Turning point
The game was still finely poised at half-time with Fenerbahce ahead by just five points, helped by the fact Galatasaray had enjoyed a solid start from some nice three-point shooting - including a bunch of triples from Marine Johannes.
But, a Belgian booster button was pushed with consecutive triples by Julie Allemand and a trademark jump shot from Emma Meesseman. That opened up a little more daylight and set Fenerbahce on the road to victory as Galatasaray played catch up.
Game heroes
It was the Belgian Cats' duo who ended up pacing the win.
Especially Allemand who was cooking and flirted with a triple-double after contributing a stellar haul of 13 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds.
Meesseman put in a typically classy display to harvest 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, with Iliana Rupert also offering an eye-catching line of 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Stats don't lie
After making that early flurry of three-point shots, things dried up dramatically for Galatasaray and they ended up with a much more modest 25 percent from downtown. They realistically needed to continue shooting the lights out to take the surprise win.
Bottom line
It wasn't always perfect, but the outcome went to script. That's all that mattered for Fenerbahce. As anticipated, their extra rotations and options proved an important difference-maker as the game unfolded. Allemand was also sensational and had a stunning night. They can also proudly reflect on now being one of only four clubs in the modern era of the competition who have three or more EuroLeague Women crowns to their name.
Meanwhile denied the injured Teja Oblak heading into Final Six, the newly crowned EuroLeague Women MVP Dorka Juhasz was cruelly ruled out of the Final and that proved to be a killer blow. Galatasaray did everything they could and competed well with their super-short rotation in impressive fashion. But, they needed that extra bit of missing quality and experience if they wanted to take their second title.
They said
"It was a tough game and it was decided on small details. We gave everything. We needed to find some of our rhythm. I think we deserved it for the season we have had. I have also had so much fun. I thank the coach for trusting me from the beginning. It's been amazing and I can't wait to party," Julie Allemand, Fenerbahce Opet
"I am just really proud of our team. People saw off the court the type of camaraderie we have and it translated into our fight on the court and in this Final. I am really proud of our effort. It's hard and losing sucks, but there is always the beauty in teamwork and competing," Elizabeth Williams, Galatasaray Cagdas Faktoring "We fought until the last moment. I want to say thank you to the players, staff and management. We have done a great job this season. We did a great job. We wanted to be champions but there is a lot of reasons we could not," Firat Okul, Galatasaray Cagdas Faktoring
FIBA