09.12.2004

BK Lotos 80 vs. MAV Coop SE 67

Lotos Gdynia defeated Szolonoki Mav Coop 80:67 (18-28, 20-14, 19-8, 23-17) but the game was not an easy one for Krzysztof Koziorowicz's team. Margo Dydek got team highs in points (22), rebounds (17) and assists (4) to let Gdynia to its fourth victory in the fifth EuroLeague game this season. Gdynia's 2.13m center collected another Game MVP title.

The Hungarian team made the first five points of the game and build a big lead early in the first quarter. Gina Farmer netted 11 points and pulled down 5 rebounds in the first half for Szolnoki, which led by as many as 14 points. Even with Dydek on the floor dominating in the paint for full 20 minutes, Gdynia players were not focused enough to cut their point deficit.

With an agressive zone defence in the second half Gdynia forced a total of 21 turnovers, leading to some easy fast-break points. Gdynia's 20-year old guard Paulina Pawlak had an outstanding defensive perfomence with 5 steals.

Margo Dydek, facing a double-team defence by Szolnoki players, managed to dish out a season-high 4 assists and helped in bulding a 20-point advantage late in the final minutes of the game.

Szolnoki used a late run to cut it to 13 points with Gdynia already giving some minutes to its bench players.

09.12.2004

Quotes BK Lotos vs. MAV Coop SE

Peter Tapodi, Head Coach, Szolnoki MAV COOP:

"We started very well, but later we got tired quick. Unfortunetly then we lost our position-5-player and last week our best foreign player got injured. So tonight Gdynia was better physically and won the game."

Orsolya Englert, Szolnoki MAV COOP:

"We started very well and after that Gdynia's zone broke our team completely. They played very aggressively and they have Dydek under the basket. Besides that we couldn't find our rhythm in offence against zone so it was a big problem for us. We also comitted 21 turnovers so it was too much to think about victory in Gdynia."

Krzysztof Koziorowicz, Head Coach, Lotos VBW Clima Gdynia:

"There are no weak teams in EuroLeague Women, we knew about it before the game but we experienced it especially in the first quarter which we lost. Hungarian team showed they got basketball skills. We managed to find our way of basketball in the second half and won the game."

Paulina Pawlak, Lotos VBW Clima Gdynia:

"In my opinion we played not aggressive enough in the first half especially in the defence. Later we were focused on zone defence which let us provide a few fastbreaks and score easy points. That gave us advantage and led to win the game."