US Valenciennes Olympic held off Kosit 2013 Kosice in a tight Group C clash on Wednesday to secure a second successive victory in EuroLeague Women.

The French champions had 19 points from France shooting guard Emilie Gomis as they went to a 2-2 record and jumped to third place in the pool.

Luisa Michulkova poured in a game-high 22 points and also grabbed 10 boards in an impressive personal display, but could not prevent the Slovakians going down to a third defeat in four.

Fellow forward Ivana Jalcova weighed in with 19 points for the hosts.

Francesca Zara scored seven points of her 16 overall points for USVO in a first quarter that ended 13-10 to the visitors.

But Kosit went on a 12-4 run at the end of the half to take a 26-21 lead into the interval.

By that stage, USVO's shooting had been dreadful, draining just five from 22 (22.7%) from two-point range.

It improved after the interval though and after pulling level, the French side went on a 7-0 run to take a 42-34 lead.

Starting the final quarter 46-39 up, USVO managed to keep that cushion and although the Slovakians closed to within two points (60-58) with 1:03 remaining, a pair of Krissy Bade free throws sealed the win.

Vladimir Karnay, coach Kosit 2013

"Losing McCarville just before the start of the match had a major influence on the team spirit. I believe we would have dominate with her in this one. Valenciennes took advantage of our mistakes and was strong from the three-point line."

Ivana Jalcova, player Kosit 2013:

"We tried to deal with the loss of Janell, we tried to show that we can be as strong even without her. Our mistakes in the last three minutes of the game though resulted in this narrow defeat."

Réka Cserny, player USVO:

"We didn't play well today, our shooting percentage was weak in the first half. But Kosit had some difficulties also and our good defense at the end of the game helped us to claim the win."

Hervé Coudray, coach USVO:

"We needed to win this game to get back on track. Our best scorer Nicole Ohlde is still recovering from illness, she tried but didn't have enough energy. On the other side Janell McCarville dropped out also and this helped us a lot. With 20 points in two quarters you can't expect to win a game. We had too many turnovers in the first half, we managed to improve in most areas in the second and get the close win. We can still fight for the eighth-finals."