Greek Women's A1 24/2008 - Ano Liosa 79, Paleo Faliro 75 (OT)

If you're a team in the Greek Women's League, making it to the semifinals should be easy. With only two games left and fourteen teams in the league, it appears that two teams - Siemens and Kastoria - have given up the ghost. (Siemens forfeited for the first time last week against Paleo Faliro.) Another team, Aris Holargou, has resorted to playing its under-18 team after the adults went on strike and Aris Holargou is now losing by around 70 points a game. I suspect that next year, there will only be between 10 and 12 teams playing women's basketball in Greece.

Last year, the top eight teams made it to the playoffs and Paleo Faliro (15-9) has clinched at least sixth place. Paleo Faliro hoped to climb to fourth place, but didn't pay enough attention to Ano Liosa (14-10) right behind them. Paleo Faliro would take to the road but lose to Ano Liosa 79-75 in overtime after fighting back valiantly.

The box score is here.

Ano Liosa must have remembered the last time these two teams played, where they were held to just one point in the first quarter. Ano Liosa had something to prove, and Paleo Faliro was down 24-13 at the first quarter and behind 37-25 going into halftime. Paleo Faliro came on strong to start the second half and by the end of the third quarter, Paleo Faliro was only down by one, 51-50. Paleo Faliro managed to tie the game in regulation 66-66, but home team advantage was too much to overcome.

It's times like this when I'll say it again - I hope that someday there will be some decent coverage of Greek women's basketball. Right now, I should be happy that it exists at all.

Both teams shot well. Ano Liosa hit 48 percent of the field goal attempts, compared to 45 percent for Paleo Faliro. In rebounding, Ano Liosa would hold a slight 39-34 edge. Both teams turned the ball over at the same rate. What truly hurt Paleo Faliro was the fact that they sent Ano Liosa to the line 34 times, where Ano Liosa scored 22 of 34 times. Three Paleo Faliro players would foul out during the game.

Ano Liosa

Meg Tierney: 22 points and 12 rebounds from the Oregon State graduate.
Kari Koch: 14 points and 12 rebounds. I believe that Koch is a graduate of Missouri State.
Alexandra Anogianaki: 12 points, 6 rebounds.

Paleo Faliro

Teana Miller: 25 points, 10 rebounds. However, Teana would foul out.
Karen Mourd: Only 2 points, but 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Kristin Haynie: 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists.