LFB (Spain) 17/2008 - Extrugasa 70, Zaragoza 56

It would be difficult to find two teams going in more dramatically different directions than Ros Casares and Extrugasa (3-14).

The last time Extrugasa won a Spanish League game was on October 11, 2008, when Extrugasa beat Estudiantes 76-70. It would also be the last time when Extrugasa would have a winning record in the Spanish league, at 2-1. They proceeded to lose their next thirteen Spanish League games. Figures such as Victoria Sholokhova, Meredith Alexis, Tamera Young, and Mandisa Stevenson went in and out the revolving door at Extrugasa.

Coach Isaac Fernandez lost his job after eight years. Tito Diaz took over, and after his first loss last week, he has finally broken the losing streak, as Extrugasa won 70-56 over visiting Zarazoga (5-13).

The box score is here.

The fact that Extrugasa was only down by four points after the first quarter - 21 to 17 - must have given Extrugasa some hope. They would hold Zaragoza to 10 points in the second quarter (35-31 Extrugasa at halftime) and hold Zaragosa to eight points in the third quarter. By that point, Extrugasa led by 14 points and after the next ten minutes, Extrugasa had won its first Liga Feminina game in four months.

Extrugasa outperformed their opponents in field goal percentage 45 percent to 39 percent and managed to hold off Zarazoga in rebounding by a factor of 36 to 25. Extrugasa would only hit 60 percent at the free throw line - a typical poor-shooting day at the free throw line for Extrugasa - but Zaragoza only went to the line 12 times and only hit five of its shots.

Extrugasa's best player was once again Elisha Turek, who scored 17 points and 11 rebounds for wining team. It would be the only double-double in the game. Taru Tuukkanen scored 12 points and had seven rebounds for Extrugasa. Iziane Castro Marques would score 16 points with 14 field goal attempts, and had six rebounds - it was probably one of her better games.

Hopefully, Extrugasa has finally turned things around. If I can find pictures, I will.