The upper house in the ‘Athena’ league for women will be decided only on Thursday, but already this evening (Monday) we received tremendous battles in the battle for the playoffs. At Moked, Maccabi RG defeated Maccabi Haifa after extra time in the fight for the top 4, while the victories of Maccabi Ashdod and Hapoel Rashalz only made the picture of qualifying for the playoffs more complicated. In the lower house, ASA Jerusalem and Hapoel PT registered important victories.
Maccabi Ramat Gan – Maccabi Haifa 71:74 after overtime
Despite a good start by the hosts, three-pointers by Gili Eisner and Tal Lev gave the Greens a 16:17 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The advantage continued to move from side to side in the second quarter as well, but the advantage remained with the guests even at the break, despite an injury to Chelsea Hopkins and the board showed 33:39 in their favor at the break. In the third quarter, Haifa already ran away to a 17-point difference, but in the last quarter, the locals made an amazing 4:20 run, en route to a tie at 66 at the end of legal time and a victory in overtime.
Scored for RG: Elin 25 points, Nard 23, Veturi 13, Khatokai 9 and Brown 4.
Scored for Haifa: Okonkwo 26 points, Eisner 14, Bulgak 12, Lev 9, Vazh 6 and Hopkins 4.
Elitzur Ramla – Hapoel Rashalz 82:61
The team from the wine city scored a second victory in a row, when already in the second quarter they gained a double-digit lead. Shakira Austin and Emma Cannon were absent from the locals and this was reflected in the color with complete control of the guest on the way to 28:45 at the break. In the absence of two senior players and Eden Rotberg, Ramla did not have much to sell and the difference continued to grow, so the fourth quarter was only for the record. The winner kept her chances of entering the playoffs and will reach a particularly exciting final round.
Ramla scored: Clark 19, Fleischer 16, Babkina 15, Kioff 7, Danan 2 and Eliyahu 2.
Scored for Rasheltz: Charles 26, Zipel 19, Hopper 16, Simon 10, Karsh 7 and Switz 4.
Maccabi Girls Ashdod – AS Ramesh 67:88
The locals wanted to secure first place for the playoffs and recovered from the bad period that surrounded them recently. Liz Cambage delivered the goods under the baskets and with May Dane’s 3-pointers the yellows led 41:48 at the break. Shatori Walker exploded against the former and the difference continued to grow and reached its peak in the third quarter, when the last quarter was already meaningless and at the end of it the team from the port city celebrated a victory that may herald its awakening just in time.
Scored for Ashdod: Walker 26, Cambage 16, Heideman 15, Aldman 14, Dane 10, Cohen 7.
They scored to the level of: Jenkins 23, Cooley 13, Jones 13, Sa’ar 10, Schuster 5, Kasten 3.
ASA Jerusalem – Herzliya Girls 74:93
The heated bottom battle ended with the team’s knockout from the capital. Taylor Wertz (22 points in the first half without a foul from any range) and Daniel Adams were unstoppable and at one point established a lead of more than 20 points, but by the time the gap was reduced to 34:50. A 0:10 run by the visitors reopened the game, but again it was Wertz and Adams who kept Jerusalem alive and with an unequivocal victory sent Herzliya to last place in the table.
Scored for Jerusalem: Wertz 31, Adams 26, Todoric 16, Ben Avi 10, Michalic 6 and Furstenberg 4
Scored for Herzliya: Amukamara 18, Ninjipe 18, Richardson 18, Azuri 14, Slivenski 5 and Shea 1.
Hapoel Bnei Pat – Elitzur Holon 72:74
The Malagasy women fight for every game until the end of the season and led by Kelsey Boone and Kanisha Bell opened an 11:22 advantage after 10 in the first minutes. Before the break, Courtney Hart and Jenny Sims stepped up and the advantage of the locals decreased to 32:39. The guests cut the difference as the minutes passed and Alex Harden’s basket set up a turnaround and 70:72 Purple. Tiana Muldrow returned the advantage to PT, Leah Forbis scored from the line and secured a victory that makes the bottom battles especially hot.
Scored for PT: Boone 24, Muldrow 15, Bell 14, Haddad 11, Forbes 7 and Roth 3.
Scored in the window: Harden 23, Hart 18, Sims 16, Reber 8, Washedy 5 and Presley 2.