This season, Çukurova Basketbol Mersin twice was beaten by ZVVZ USK Praha in the group phase and, despite homecourt advantage for the Turkish club, the Czech champs again emerged victorious, 95-67.
The opening, though, gave us two deflated teams, with players missing shots and committing turnovers, unable to focus on the game at hand. A combined six makes on 19 attempts in the first five minutes didn’t necessarily scream efficiency. Praha was the better of the two teams and was soon up by 10 points, 16-6. That’s when Mersin started picking up the pace and twice cut the lead in half, only for Praha to fight back and keep them at bay. Praha finished the first quarter up 27-18, with Mersin shooting 29 percent from the floor and no player having more than four points. As for Praha, they were again led by Valériane Ayayi, who had eight points in the first 10 minutes and would finish the game with 21 points.
In the second quarter, Kahleah Copper put Mersin on her back, making consecutive layups. And while Praha’s lead reached 15 points at one point, Mersin cut it down to 10, and for most of the contest that seemed to be the distance separating both teams. But with their shooting at around 32 percent, there was little chance for Mersin to bounce back, especially with Praha making half of their shots, including the buzzer-beating 3 that set the score at 52-36 at halftime.
The Czechs also dominated the glass (29-19 rebounds) and passed the ball better (17-8 assists) than the hosts. Marina Mabrey made just one of her nine attempts (she would finish the game at eight percent from the field thanks to a single make), while Stephanie Mavunga had a single point entering halftime (and wouldn’t improve her scoring after it). Much of their struggles were thanks to Praha’s defensive effort and organization.
After the break, Praha’s lead got up to 20 points, which actually opened up the game more, as the Czechs got too lose, made mistakes and committed turnovers, allowing Mersin to get as close as nine points. Leading the charge was the 5-foot-5 Olivia Epoupa (14 points, seven rebounds at this point of the game) and the 6-foot-4 Hungarian Virág Kiss (17 points, 6 boards). Mersin won the third quarter by six points, yet were still down by 10 before the final quarter.
However, when Praha opened up the last 10 minutes of the game with back-to-back 3s, there wasn’t much hope left for the Turks. The final minutes saw both teams pacing themselves and firing away when they had the chance; Mersin with frustration, Praha with calm and joy. Their 28-point win puts an exclamation mark on a successful season and shows the difference between the teams. After finishing second last year, Mersin dropped to fourth this season, while Praha finished fourth and now improve to third.