LFB 26/2008 - Ros Casares 84, Extrugasa 82

A reunion for Iziane Castro Marques (pictured) and Erika de Souza.

Extrugasa (5-21) might not have been fighting for survival - perhaps their designation to the Liga Feminina 2 was ordained as they finished with the worst record in the Liga Feminina (the bottom two teams go to the lower league). Perhaps they were playing for pride. Perhaps Ros Casares (25-1), which clinched the best record in the Liga Feminina weeks ago just didn't care. Whatever happened, Ros Casares came close to being beaten at home during the last game of the season with an 84-82 loss.

The box score is here. The win closes Ros Casares's best regular season in their history. A gallery of the game is here.

Extrugasa came out strong at the beginning of the first quarter. They led 14-7 before Amaya Valdemoro warmed up with a couple of 3-pointers and El Ros closed the gap to 19-14 at the end of the first quarter. Ros Casares, however, has too many weapons and Candice Wiggins gave Ros Casares some fresh blood, with Ros Casares only down by two, 40-38 going into halftime. Ros Casares finally took the lead in the third quarter and led 66-60 with ten minutes to go.
Extrugasa managed to get close - a 3-pointer by Iziane Castro Marques closed the gap to 82-80 - but there wasn't enough time to finish off Ros Casares.

Ros Casares hit 52 percent of their field goal attempts compared to 46 percent for Extrugasa - but Extrugasa went 10-for-21 in 3-pointers. Furthermore, they managed to out-rebound Ros Casares 36 to 32. However, Extrugasa turned the ball over 16 times and only hit six free throws - free throw shooting has been a problem for Extrugasa all year. Maybe Extrugasa will do better next year in LFB 2.

Ros Casares

Erika de Souza: 19 points, 7 rebounds. 7-for-11 shooting.
Delisha Milton-Jones: 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 turnovers.
Amaya Valdemoro: 3 points, 4 steals, 4 turnovers.
Candace Wiggins: 5 points.

Extrugasa

Iziane Castro Marques: 28 points on 10-for-19 shooting. Iziane made a valiant effort, but she can't be a one-woman team for Extrugasa.
Elisha Turek: 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals.
Maria Gomez Novo: 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 turnovers.