Saturday, March 14, 2009

LFB (Spain) 22/2008 - Ros Casares 68, Ibiza 60




Silva Morales tries to get the ball past Amaya Valdemoro

Generally, Ros Casares (21-1) doesn't just beat its opponents, it annihilates them. Against Ibiza (11-11), you'd think El Ros would roll up another 20 to 30 point win. Ibiza, however, must have been still smarting from their Copa de la Reina finals loss to Ros Casares last week. Sufficiently motivated, Ibiza was actually able to beat Ros Casares for one quarter...but Ros Casares would win 68-60.

The box score is here. The win by Ros Casares clinches at least a tie for the first seed in the playoffs, and they can secure the first seed with a win next week against Zaragoza.

The first quarter was surprising, not just to someone reading the box score but undoubtedly to the players of Ros Casares - Ibiza was ahead 17-12. (It just goes to show you what Sancho Lyttle can do for a team.) At halftime, Ibiza was actually able to keep a 35-34 lead. However, Ibiza was held to 13 points in the third quarter and 12 in the fourth as Ros Casares fought its way back to another win.

Ros Casares was held to 40 percent free throw shooting, whereas Ibiza hit 37 percent of its attempted free throws. Ros Casares, however, was difficult to beat on the boards as they took a 41-29 advantage with 17 offensive rebounds. Ibiza was able to force Ros Casares into an inexplicable 22 turnovers, but somehow Ros Casares managed to hang on for the win.

Ros Casares

Amaya Valdemoro: 17 points, 6 steals.
Erika de Souza: 11 points and 16 rebounds for the game's only double-double.
Delisha Milton-Jones: 8 points, 4 rebounds.
Candace Wiggins: 6 points, 3 rebounds in 16 minutes of play.

Ibiza

Sancho Lyttle: 25 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals. 10-for-15 shooting.
Shannon Johnson: 9 points and 5 assists for "Pee Wee".
Elsa Donaire Malagelada: 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

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