Zhedik Leads Nadezhda To Victory

Nadezhda pulled away late on to top Beretta-Famila 70-63 and move to 4-3 in Euroleague Women Group B.

Natalia Zhedik had 19 points for Nadezhda

The Russian hosts outscored their visitors 12-6 in the final six minutes to pull clear, having recovered from an early deficit to score a victory that leaves them one point off the summit in the group, although Fenerbahce, 6-0, have played a game less.

Natalia Zhedik had 19 points in the win and Anastasiya Verameyenka added 17 and nine rebounds.
Nadezhda led 58-57 after Laura Macchi's jump-shot for Beretta with 6:14 to go, but Kate Douglas responded with a jump-shot and Zhedik's three-pointer increased the margin.

Maja Erkic hit back for the visitors and then added a free-throw that made it 63-60 with 4:54 on the clock.

But Douglas then made five staight free throws to give her side breathing space and a 68-60 edge with 2:55 to go.

Cheryl Ford split a pair of free throws and then a lay-up to give Beretta hope 48 clicks from the buzzer, but Verameyenka's jump-shot sealed it for the hosts.

Douglas finished with 14 points for Nadezhda while Elena Danilochkina had 10.

Macchi led Beretta with 20 points while Raffaella Masciadri had 11. Ford added seven points and 14 rebounds.

Beretta, who drop to 3-4, had led 24-15 after the opening quarter.

Quotes Nadezhda vs Beretta Famila Schio

Beretta-Famila, head coach Maurizio Lasi:

"It was a good game for both teams. We started well but after the first half the game became very tough. Nadezhda's guards did very well and they decided this game. When guards are playing like this, then games are always tough and interesting as you witnessed today."

Beretta-Famila, guard Liron Cohen:

"First of all, my congratulations to Nadezhda! This was a very good basketball game. We had a chance to win, we played very well in the first half but then the game became very close and we lost the control of the game. As I see in the statistics, there is no big difference between the teams. It was very difficult to play here. The opponent team got the home court advantage and their fans were really amazing. However we keep our heads up and win the rest of the games to qualify for the next Round."

Nadezhda, head coach Alexander Kovalev:

"Tonight's game was one of the most impressive games. We knew the opponent has taller and slower players and we counted on our fast game. Unfortunately we didn't succeeded in everything we made at the beggining of the game but we stuck to the style of the game. We beat the tall players of Beretta-Famila. I would like to say my heartful thanks to our fans. With this kind of support you just can't lose."

Nadezhda, player Natalia Zhedik: 

"We managed to win today because we worked as a team on the court. We followed the directions of  our coach and even though we were not very successful in the very beggining of the game we became better later on. During the halftime break we talked about our problems and the game became close. At the end nobody was able to stop us.