France Fourth Quarter Domination Over Italy

Italy had to wait for 4 minutes to score their first points of the game but as luck will have it France had only scored 4 points, all from Sandra Le Drean. Both sides were just unable to make their way to the basket and so were forced to snatch at their shots to avail. The introduction of Celine Dumerc and Emily Gomis changed things for France as their pace and tenacity got France back on track finishing the first half on the back of a 5:0 run. So they extended their lead to 13 points midway through the second period.

Krissy Bade made sure France did not drop their intensity as she worked on both ends of the court at the start of the second period as France scored 6 straight points. With her performance and the defence now in place, Italy were not able to reach their basket for the first 3 minutes of the second period as France opened up the first significant lead of the match (19-6).

A change in defensive systems by Italy resulted in France turning over the ball and losing their rhythm which profited the hosts as they put together their best offensive action to slightly reduce their deficit. Afterwards France were unable to score for 3 minutes but once Yacoubou found her way to the free-throw line after a pair of missed free-throws from Le Drean, the French team was back in attack mode and went into the interval with a 12-point lead.

Right from the start of the third period the Italians were more aggressive with Kathrin Ress taking a slight knock right at the start of the period which appeared to slow her down. Dubravaka Dacic took it upon herself to keep her team in the game as she alone took on France during the first part of the period scoring the first 6 points for her side. Furthermore she found time to go back and defend and add a block including an assist to her performance as France's advantage dropped to 8 points (32-24). Then things went from bad to worse for France: first Celine Dumerc picked up 3 quick fouls and had to leave the field, secondly France were unable to score a single point while Italy had reduced the deficit to 3 points.

Finally France recovered when Emmeline Ndongue - not known for her speed - chased down Giorgia Sottana to block her just before she could lay up. Yet Sottana was to have the last laugh seconds later as she scored and herewith bringing Italy to within 1 point of France (32-31) while she concluded a 11-0 run. This was as close Italy was to come as France regained their composure and Edwige Lawson-Wade hit a critical 3-point shot that silenced the crowd shortly before both sides traded basket for basket with France scoring the last of the period to go into the final period leading by 4 points.

In comparison to the fireworks of the third period the final period was dull, but France silenced the crowd for good with 6 quick points (44-35). France, now in control, only allowed Italy one basket as they extended their lead to 13 points (37-50) to finish the match as a contest. So the French players went on to pace themselves to victory (64-48).

Three players finished with double digits for France with Sandrine Gruda leading the scoring with 14 points followed by Gomis and Le Drean with 11 and 10 points respectively. Laura Macchi finished with a game high 15 points for Italy.


Top Scorers: Laura Macchi (15),Sandrine Gruda (14)