ZARAGOZA (Spain) - Spar Girona enjoyed some seriously sweet first Final Six footsteps as they took down fellow debutantes Umana Reyer Venezia 70-64 to book their place in Friday's Semi-Finals.
Benefiting from the support of their noisy travelling fans who made the trip to Zaragoza, the team set another new memorable high-tide mark by making the last four of the competition.
They will face Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce Opet in the next phase of the competition.
Turning point
Girona converted a flurry of triples with two minutes to go until the interval, which put them in control at 35-24. When Klara Holm then sunk a half-time buzzer beater heading into the break to maintain the 11 point margin, it kept Girona on the front foot.
It meant Reyer were chasing for the rest of the game and while they launched a solid rescue mission to set up a nervous ending, Girona held their nerve to scramble over the line.
Game heroes
It was a super one-two punch from Mariam Coulibaly and Juste Jocyte that sealed the deal for Girona. The former was a powerhouse in the paint yet again and claimed a towering double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Meanwhile Jocyte put in an assured performance far beyond her tender years and stepped off court having contributed a classy 18 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
Stats don't lie
You will barely see a more dominant numbers than Spar Girona outperforming their opponents in second chance points by an eye-opening 22-0. That was thanks to 15 offensive boards, compared to just five for Reyer.
Bottom line
Girona were heading into this one not exactly in turmoil, but largely out of form and rhythm. But they showed a great combo of heart and bein smart. They took great care of the ball and absolutely smashed it on the glass at both ends. Boxing out for their lives and also snapping up all those second chances. It was a big team effort, even if Coulibaly and Jocyte took the headlines.
It felt like Reyer never got started until it was a case of too little too late. They were far too passive, gave up too many offensive boards and too many triples in the first half. Considering their recent run of form, it felt like a big opportunity missed. Their case was not helped by the outstanding Kaila Charles having one of her quieter games.
They said
"I am super, super happy for the team and that we managed to get this wiin. I think we really deserved it. We talked about controlling the rebounds and also did a good job with second chance points." Klara Holm, Spar Girona
"Congratulations to our players. We came after some months with setbacks and problems, but they believed. We are not the same team that started the season. We have had to adapt and it was not easy. I am happy for them as they sacrificed, commited and followed the plan," Roberto Iniguez, Spar Girona
"It's hard to make an an analysis now because we are under a lot of emotions. This was not our best game. We showed more in the previous games. I don't know why we lacked some of the energy that is a big part of our game. They were better." Ivana Dojkic, Umana Reyer Venezia "We lacked aggressiveness. I didn't expect this. I think in the second half we did a good job, but the game was between the 15th minute and the 25th minute - that was the game right there." Andrea Mazzon, Umana Reyer Venezia
FIBA