26.10.2005

Bourges Off To A Flyer

Three-times winners Bourges made an excellent start to their EuroLeague women campaign when they outclassed Lotos 79-56 in their first fixture.

Latvian Anete Jekabsone was the top scorer for Bourges with a points haul of 22 while she also contributed four rebounds and three assists for the team that last won the title in 2001.

Jekabsone was four from five from two-point range and four from six from behind the arc while she converted two from three free throws.

However, in a solid team performance she received stout support from Elodie Godin who poured in 16 points and hauled down seven rebounds.

Also reaching double figures were Mudju Ngoyisa with 14 and Laia Palau who managed 13.

Ngoyisa, who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, also contributed nine rebounds, eight of them defensive.

		Agnieszka Bibrzycka (Lotos Gdynia)

For the visitors from Gdynia, it was Agnieszka Bibrzycka who starred with 18 points although the only other Polish player to manage double digits was Croatian shooting guard Gordana Kovacevic with 12.

It was a disappointing evening for last year's runners-up who made a solid enough start.

The game was tied at 12-12 but then Bourges went on a 9-0 run to take a stranglehold on the game that they would never relinquish.

Cathy Melain's jump shot four seconds before the halfway point ensured the French side had established a 38-26 lead.

Five points from Palau and two from Godin quickly turned that to 45-26 after two minutes and 24 seconds of the third quarter and from that moment on the women from Gdynia looked a beaten side.

At the end of the third quarter, the French club's advantage stood at a healthy 58-36 and they played out the fourth quarter with a cushion that ensured the result was never seriously in doubt.