LFB 4/2009 - Ros Casares 73, Rivas Ecopolis 56

It was a match between two unbeatens: one was Ros Casares (4-0), last year's Liga Femenina winner, and the other was Rivas Ecopolis (3-1), which surprised a few Spanish basketball followers by defeating the powerful Perfumerias team. Rivas Ecopolis, however, is not on the level of El Ros, not yet anyway, as they lost 73-56 to the visitors.

The box score is here. No photos, not yet anyway. The win leaves Ros Casares in a tie for first with Zaragoza, the only other 4-0 team in the Liga Femenina.

At Cerro del Telegrapho - "Telegraph Hill" - Rivas Ecopolis played the visitors strong in the first quarter. Rivas Ecopolis scored the first five points, and the best defense in the league - Rivas Ecopolis - held the best offense to a 15-15 tie after 10 minutes. (*) Then it all fell apart. The combination of Delisha Milton-Jones and Erika de Souza was unstoppable, and Rivas Ecopolis was held to just 13 third quarter points.

Looking at the Four Factors of the Game:

Field goal percentage: Ros Casares 47 percent, Rivas Ecopolis 43 percent. Three point shooting helped Ros Casares - looking at effective field goal percentage, the numbers change to Ros Casares 52 percent, Rivas Ecopolis 46 percent.
Turnovers: Ros Casares 10, Rivas Ecopolis 14. This would have been a nice game to watch. Neither side was sloppy on the offense.
Offensive rebound percentage: Ros Casares 35.4 percent, Rivas Ecopolis 30 percent. De Souza had six offensive rebounds, Crystal Langhorne had three for Rivas Ecopolis.
Free throws: Ros Casares 7-for-10, Rivas Ecopolis 1-for-1. Yup, 1-for-1.

And now, the high points of the game:

Rivas Ecopolis

Anna Cruz: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists.
Clara Bermejo: 9 points.
Crystal Langhorne: 6 points, 7 rebounds.
Cathy Joens: Only 2 points in 17 minutes of play.

Ros Casares

Delisha Milton-Jones: 18 points, 3 rebounds. 6-for-9 shooting.
Erika de Souza: 13 points, 10 rebounds. The combination of Milton-Jones and de Souza was too much to overcome.
Belinda Snell: 9 points.
Anna Montanana: 5 points in 22 minutes of play.
Amaya Valdemoro: Did not play.

(*) - Before the game, Ros Casares was scoring 83.3 points a game, and Rivas Ecopolis was allowing 55.3 points a game.