Baxi Ferrol 75 Villeneuve d'Ascq 78
A superb outing from Ireland's Claire Melia ensured Baxi Ferrol are still in the hunt going into the second leg of the EuroCup Women final, despite narrowly losing the home leg by three points against Villeneuve d'Ascq.
The Ireland international, the first woman from this country to ever play in a European basketball final of this level, finished with 12 points, six assists and four rebounds in an impressive effort as Villeneuve ran out 78-75 winners.
The crowd started to gather outside A Malata a full three hours before the opening tip. This being the hottest ticket in town, Baxi Ferrol had set up a zone with a bar and a big screen for those not lucky enough to get tickets.
Among the supporters were Claire Melia’s family and plenty of locals wearing Irish flags or red wigs to support the Kildare woman.
The Irish woman got Baxi Ferrol’s first points of the night with a lovely drive inside as the opening exchanges were toe-to-toe.
A trio of three pointers from Villeneuve d’Ascq early, capped off by a sweet corner shot by Shavonte Zellous to rattle the home side. Ferrol did well to hang with them but still trailed 33-25 at the end of the first quarter.
Melia had sat down through the back half of that barrage but re-entered early in the second quarter. The Kildare woman’s grit steeled the Ferrol defence as they started making life unpleasant for the visitors under the basket.
Still, Baxi Ferrol’s own shooting woes were hampering the comeback, despite Melia’s excellent work at creating space. It took a heads up play from her on a fast break to finally bring some life back to Ferrol. A quick stop and offload pass gave Angela Mataix an easy finish to cut the gap to 6 points.
A three-pointer from Melia soon after ensured the rally kept going. She kept on delivering as an assist from the Ireland international on a Julie Pospisilova basket saw Ferrol hold a 44-42 lead at half-time.
The physical play resumed early in the third but Villeneuve d’Ascq were more keen to engage. A couple of early buckets from French international Carla Leite got the visitors off to a nice start. The guile of Ferrol ensured they kept within touching distance of the French through the end of the period. Entering the fourth, Melia’s side was behind 63-60.
Melia took a breather early in the fourth but, with her side trailing by seven points, she was put back into the fray with six minutes to play. She immediately had an impact, setting up Mataix for a score. Ferrol quickly cut the gap back to just two points.
The climax was a bruising back and forth in the paint, with the visitors just getting the better of the exchanges.
Baxi Ferrol’s players were roared off the floor by their fans but they have a big job to do in Lille next week.
