USK Praha basketball players advanced through Schio to the Final Four of the European League
Updates: 03/18/2022 20:26
Released: 18.03.2022, 20:13
Prague – The USK Praha basketball players defeated the Italian Schio 90:77 at home in the decisive third quarterfinal match of the European League and can look forward to the Final Four after three years. In the middle, coach trustee Natálie Hejková is waiting at the as yet unspecified venue on Friday, April 8, Fenerbahce Istanbul. The second pair will be formed by Sopron with the best of Saturday’s duel between Salamanca and Girona, played by the Czech national team member Julia Reisingerová.
The USK players, who won 72:70 at home last week and lost 56:69 in Italy on Tuesday, in addition to 23 points in the match. The best scorer of the winner was María Conde with 25 points, followed by Alyssa Thomas with 19 points, who, as in the second match, recorded a full 40 minutes. Thanks to 12 points and 11 rebounds, another American support from Prague, Brionna Jones, scored a double double. The Czech champions got a taste of the previous one, in which they did not even make it to the quarterfinals.
USK managed to enter the match. Conde, Jones and Teja Oblaková set a quick lead 6: 0 and the Prague team reacted quickly to the reduction of the opponent and in the 5th minute they went to a double-digit selection. By 8:24, Thomas had improved to 11 points and the operator’s leadership 24:12. Schio also made a minimum thanks to the Diamond DeShields three, but the USK finished the first quarter with a nine-point score.
In the second ten-minute period, the home players soon began to dominate again, and in the 14th minute Alena Hanušová secured the lead at 35:21. The difference continued to grow and Hanušová and then Thomas increased it twice to 16 points. Although the home team offered the opponents a correction in 38:47, after a break from the last action of the first half, Jones performed 49:38.
Although the second half started with a three-piece Kitija Laksaová, the USK 11-0 lead and a lead of 20 points followed. Veronika Voráčková is threatened with two threes on the blockbuster. A moment later, another Conde scored and the highest difference in the score in the match was 23 points.
Schio returned to the trio of Giorgi Sottana and Kim Mestdagh in the beginning of the fourth part in 18 seconds and three minutes before the end they reached the Italian team after an eight-point line with a difference of eight points. But when the Italian team pulled the deficit to 75:82, Voráčková replied with a three and the drama did not take place in the end.
USK Praha – Schio 90:77 (26:17, 49:38, 72:51)
Most points: Conde 25, Thomas 19, Voráčková 18 – Mestdaghová 26, DeShields and Sottana after 14. Fouls: 17:18. Free throws: 15.12. – 14.12. Threesomes: 8:12. Rebounds: 36:29. Final score of the series: 2: 1.