Spar Girona have lost (49-61) and will have to resort to a miracle and look for a 12-point comeback in Valencia next Thursday if they want to reach the final of the Endesa Women’s League. In an ugly match, Alfred Julbe’s team sank, and in what way, in the last quarter (7-14 partial) without finding the ability to react anywhere. Blocked, without success (1/16 triples in the whole match) and lost, absolutely lost, it seems impossible to think about the comeback despite having won the last two games played against Valencia. In the other semifinal match, Perfumerías Avenida has paved the way for the final round for the title with a victory in La Seu against Cadí (66-73), getting seven points of margin to defend in the return match. at home.
It’s no secret that Spar Girona has returned to the end of the season with a fair amount of strength. The fresh equipment has not been seen for weeks, and the pending subjects are difficult to recover. The outside shot is probably the most obvious and today at the break the 0/9 in triples that led the team of Alfred Julbe corroborated it with the coldness of mathematics. It has been a very bad first half, with a Uni stranded offensively and overtaken in the rebound by a Valencia that, paradoxically, has not been at all comfortable. The 23-22 at halftime after two free throws converted by Mendy and a Palau stopper on the horn also prove that there was more misunderstanding than success on the court. Now, what has not been lacking has been struggle and dedication. This in the Uni is non-negotiable.
The match did not start well. Valencia, with two triples by Gulich and Allen, left very early (4-12), and Girona had trouble and work to score and control the rebound, especially in defense. The first four free throws were missed, the triple didn’t go in and even penetrated solo counterattacks like Mendy’s. But even so, Valencia has not broken. On the contrary, he has also been involved in an extremely difficult match. With Gardner and Labuckiene, Uni improved their defense and rebounding and closed out the losing streak of 4 (10-14). The low score and the drama to score continued in the second quarter. Reisingerova, who has been out for the last few weeks, has scored three points in a row to put Girona (21-19) ahead for the first time in three and a half minutes of the break. They continued to miss triples, they missed leaps and bounds, but in spite of everything, they reached the half with a minimal advantage (23-22) on an extremely poor score.
The second half started with a rhythm and Uni went 5 (27-22) thanks to a 4-0 between Labuckiene and Gardner. Valencia, however, did not take long to tie at 29 with a 2 + 1 from Oubiña. It seemed that both teams found the opposing ring more easily and, on the other hand, Girona have started to control the rebound better. The first triple of the premises, of Mendy (35-31) ignited Fontajau, although the visitors responded and left three (37-40) with a shot of Allen from 6.75 and a basket of Gulich. Another triple, from Salvador, put the score at 39-43 and she herself at 42-47 and it’s good that she missed the extra shot. With the Girona fans very angry with the referees, this third half was closed five down.
Valencia opened the final half with a maximum advantage of 9 (42-51) with Carrera basketballs and two free throws by Salvadores and things were starting to look bad. Uni was once again stuck in attack and Julbe called timeout at 7.10 for the end. It didn’t help much because the visitors came to dominate from 11 (42-53). Gardner, a free kick, made Uni’s first point of the quarter, and Davis made it 43-56 which set off the alarms for good. Winning the game already seemed like a utopia, and it was time to try not to get really hurt to get back to La Fonteta on Thursday. But Oubiña, three, made it 43-59 and there everything seemed to fall apart. Uni, which has been down 16, ended up losing by 12 (49-61), a score that seeing today’s performance of the team seems very difficult to turn around. Not to mention impossible.
