LFB (France) 10/2008 - Villeneuve d'Ascq 68, Nantes 64

After losing four games in Euroleague, Villeneuve d'Ascq (5-5) finally won their first game this week. Do you think, therefore, that they would be considerate of the struggles of Nantes (0-10), which hadn't won a game in the French League this season? Do you think Izi would be mindful of the Atlanta Dream's 0-17 streak to start the season?

No. With the help of Iziane Castro Marques's first half play, Villeneuve d'Ascq held off a fourth-quarter comeback from the home team to beat Nantes on the road, 68-64.

The boxscore for the game is here.

Villeneuve would win every quarter except for the final one. They took a 36-28 into halftime. Iziane Castro Marques would score 18 points in the first half, half of Villeneuve d'Ascq's total points. She wouldn't score another point in the second quarter, but she wouldn't need to.

In terms of shooting percentage, Reze outshot Villeneuve d'Ascq 49 percent to 42 percent. However, Villeneuve d'Ascq simply took more shots to make up the deficit. Villeneuve d'Ascq crushed Nantes in offensive rebounds, 16 to seven. Nantes's better free throw shooting - they hit 12 of 17 for 70 percent - wasn't enough to make up the difference.

Michelle Van Gorp led Nantes with 23 points, shooting 8 for 11 with seven rebounds. Van Gorp last played for the Minnesota Lynx. Yulila Andreyeva scored 18 points for Nantes, and Jessica Moore, a forward-center for the Los Angeles Sparks, scored 10 points and five assists.

Iziane Castro Marques scored 19 points and Ljubica Drljaca and Géraldine Robert scored 14 points each. Jolene Anderson, a rookie guard with the Connecticut Sun, added four points to the Villeneuve d'Ascq road win.

Pictures will come when I can find them.