LFB 26/2009 - Ros Casares 79, Estudiantes 58

For Ros Casares, there was nothing to fight for. They had already sealed up first place in the regular season. However, for Estudiantes, it was a fight for their lives to stay in the upper league. They also needed Hondarribia to lose, but if Estudiantes lost they would be relegated - sent down to the bottom league. Unfortunately, their dream of being El Ros was just that - a dream - as they lost 79-58 at home.

The box score is here.

For a few minutes in the first quarter, it looked like Estudiantes was going to fight. They fought to a 6-6 tie after three minutes, led by Laura Herrera.

And then Ros Casares rolled off 20 straight points. 20-0 run. At the end of the quarter, the score was 26-6 in favor of Ros Casares. The game was, for all intents, over. Oh, Estudiantes won the second quarter to close the gap to 44-30. However, Ros Casares stepped on Estudiantes again in the third quarter and led by 28 points after three quarters, 75-47.

In the fourth quarter, both sides mailed it in. Ros Casares scored a grand total of four points, but it was a foregone conclusion anyway. Why get hurt in the final quarter when you have the playoffs to think of? Estudiantes only scored 11 points, so it wasn't as if Estudiantes could take advantage of the ten-minute nap by Ros Casares in the final quarter.

Thyra Liljestrand led all scorers for Estudiantes with 12 points and four rebounds. Marta Zurro scored 11 points and eight rebounds for Estudiantes, and Ashley Battle contributed 11 points in the losing effort. Battle is a five-yeaer WNBA veteran who has played for the Seattle Storm and the New York Liberty.

The only player on Ros Casares who played more than 30 minutes was Laia Palau who only scored five points. Delisha Milton-Jones led all scorers with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Jana Vesela scored 12 points and Belinda Snell scored 10 points.

Erika de Souza took a serious rest this game. She played for 20 minutes, but even so she did a great job:

14 points
4-for-6 shooting
5 rebounds
20 minutes played