The 12th round of the Athena Winner Basketball League for women closed today (Friday) with two games that on paper were supposed to be one-sided, but in a round of close games and upheavals – only one of them became one.
Elitzur Tel Aviv – Hapoel Rishon LeZion 102: 74
Just three days ago, Hapoel Rishon LeZion dropped to first place in the table when they lost in Ashdod after a great game, and today, Ziv Erez’s players attacked the host team from the beginning. They finished the first quarter with a 15:27 advantage, and from there did not take their foot off the gas. Aggressively at the beginning of the second quarter, the team managed to narrow the gap to seven points, but precisely when it seemed that the game might go in a more competitive direction, Jenny Sims came, and thanks to some impressive actions returned the double-digit advantage to Rishon LeZion. With 43% off the arc, Rishon widened the gap and dropped to half with a 33:54 lead
It was a scattered game by Elitzur Tel Aviv, who recorded the 13th loss in the game already two minutes into the third quarter. Eden Tzipel and Dakia Cohen punished with threes on the other side, and the gap already grew to 37:64, while the team from the wine city stands at 50 percent of the three (8 of 16). 48:82 Crazy for Rishon LeZion at the end of the third quarter. The last quarter was already only for the record. But none of these obviously affected the winning identity. 74: 102 to Rishon LeZion, which returns to the winning track and continues to blow in the back of the leader from Haifa.
Scored to Tel Aviv: Carrington 31 points, Leslie 21, Zlibansky 10, Moldro 7, Holtzman 3, Identity 2.
Scored for Rishon LeZion: Sims 27, Block 24, Tzipel 20, Cohen 17, Gopher 6, Scooby 5, Karsh 3.
Maccabi Ashdod girls – Herzliya girls 71:74
Three days after defeating Hapoel Rishon LeZion, the Ashdodites hosted the Herzliya girls from the bottom today, and tried to convey a message already in the opening. The significant advantage from the first minutes was offset towards the end of the quarter and stood at only 20:21, Tal Sahar scored 12 points 100 percent from the field in the first half, and showed that Ashdod is not only an excellent team but also diverse. 35 points from the field.
Herzliya made all the necessary adjustments during the break. She came out in the second half uniquely determined and also showed everyone who doubted that despite the low position in the table, she has a lot of good basketball to sell. A tremendous 0:17 run in the first six minutes completely reversed the result and raised the team from Sharon to a 44:49 advantage. Despite losing the ball 14 times during the quarter, Maccabi Ashdod still managed to end the third quarter with a 52:54 advantage. The final quarter continued to be tight. The Herzliya girls managed to reduce the deficit to 72:71, with 15 seconds left, but just like in the loss to Ramla at the beginning of the week, this time too Herzliya did not manage to win at the end of a close game. The game ended in a close victory for Maccabi Ashdod girls with a result of 71:74.
Scored to Ashdod: Vivians 24 points, Crescent 14, Cohen 13, Hightower 11, Boone 6, Dayan 4, Sha2.
Scored to Herzliya: Simon 17, Forbes 16, Brown 14, Penn 13, Gutt 7, Azouri 3, Fleischer 1.
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