Anete Steinberga has given her team the advantage going into the home leg of the tie, scoring a game-high 23 points

A terrific display by Latvia national team forward Anete Steinberga proved the headline in the first-leg of the 2015 EuroCup Women Final as Castors Braine gave themselves an edge with a 68-64 win on the road at Villeneuve d'Ascq.

A scintillating first-half shooting effort from Steinberga helped the visitors to hang tough when things weren't going their way, as she made all three of her attempts from downtown by the interval and eventually went on to harvest a game-high 23 points.

After starting out with the first nine points of the contest, the visitors looked dominant in the opening minutes but were left stunned when Villeneuve arose from their slumber when a triple from Virginie Bremont sparked a 14-2 run.

In a roller-coaster opening quarter, a buzzer-beating baseline jumper by Les Bleus forward Marielle Amant kept Villeneuve 23-20 ahead.

The home side then extended their advantage to seven points, but another perimeter score came via Steinberga, who was almost single-handedly keeping her team in contention.

She even dished up a beautiful assist for Sidney Spencer to tie the game up midway through the second period, although Villeneuve still headed to the locker room with a 39-35 lead.

An injury to the energetic and influential Bremont slowed down the home side and it was when opposing guard Marjorie Capreaux took control that Castors Braine truly got onto the front foot.

Excelling on her old home court, Capreaux dished off an audacious behind-the-back assist for her team to sink another long-range score and then put her side in front 55-53 heading into the last ten minutes after a beautiful finger roll.

More eccentric and inspiring basketball then came from Capreaux moments later, as she made a pass over the back of her head for Steinberga to score inside.

She would eventually finish with a well-rounded stat line of  11 points, eight rebounds and a game-high six assists.

With just one basket in five minutes, the Villeneuve offence was struggling but an Amant put-back made it a one-shot game heading into crunch time.

However, Kim Mestdagh followed Capreaux in playing a perfect cameo to Steinberga as she came alive down the stretch with a massive three-pointer from close to the half with the shot clock about to expire, increasing the lead to six points inside the final minute.

Thankfully for Villeneuve fans, a pair of free-throws by the recovered Bremont cut the gap to just four points heading into the second leg.

Despite the injury, Bremont was still the main instigator for the home side, finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, whilst veteran Belgian center Ann Wauters chimed in with 10 points and eight boards.