RUS - Turkey-bound rivals dazzle for EuroCup Women holders

MOSCOW (EuroCup Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Tina Charles and Ana Dabovic will go up against each other at the FIBA World Championship for Women later this year, but the club team-mates have combined to put Dynamo Moscow a step closer to retaining their EuroCup Women title.

The duo, who will clash in Group D when the action gets underway in Istanbul, formed the centre-piece of an astonishing 97-65 success by the defending champions against Dynamo Kursk in the first-leg of the final.

Charles led the way with a stellar 26 points and 17 rebounds, as Dynamo Moscow overwhelmed their domestic rivals in a scintillating and rampant second-half display.

"It was a great win, a collective effort and I'm very proud of our players and coaching staff," said the USA center after posting her monumental double-double.

"We have to concentrate a lot before the second leg and we don't take anything for granted."

The multi-talented Dabovic meanwhile showed how much of a scoring threat she will be for Serbia by supporting the headline contribution of Charles with an eye-catching 20 points and seven assists.

Whilst satisfying for Dynamo Moscow head coach Vladimir Shtam, he wasn't willing to accept that his team had already placed one hand on the 2014 trophy.

"We have only won the first leg," he warned.

"Basketball is a game for emotional people and I wouldn't be too optimistic, even though we won by a lot of points."

Shtam won the tactical battle by employing an impenetrable zone defence which restricted his opponents to just eight points in the third quarter - a fact not lost on his coaching rival from Kursk.

"In the first half we played very well offensively, but I have to give credit to Dynamo," said a disappointed Bo Overton.

"They played a very good zone defence in the second half and now they have a great advantage.

"We also missed several shots that we usually make."

Dynamo Moscow were far superior on the glass and won the battle of the boards in emphatic fashion, with Dynamo Kursk forward, Natalia Vodopyanova bemoaning the absence of one of her colleagues.

She said," We missed Rebekkah Brunson a lot today and because of this, Moscow had a rebounding advantage over us.

"As soon as we tried to help under the basket, we left open their perimeter players.

"All the Moscow players played a very good game."

The return-leg will take place in Kursk on 27 March

FIBA