05.12.2007

TTT Riga triumph

Iciss Tillis provided a huge spark off the bench to help TTT Riga collect a 63-55 victory at home against Phard Napoli in Group A of the EuroLeague Women.

Tillis had 19 points, nine rebounds and two assists while Micaela Martins Jacintho scored 15 points and Olena Zherzherunova added 10 for the Latvians, who improved to 3-2 and a tie

		Astou Ndiaye led Napoli with 20 points ans seven rebounds.

for second place.

Astou Ndiaye tallied 20 points and Kedra Holland-Corn had 15 for Napoli, who fell to 1-4 - even with ESB Lille at the bottom of Group A.

Phard jumped ahead early 7-2 on Holland-Corn's three-pointer but Tillis and Martins Jacintho combined for all nine points in a 9-2 run, and Martins Jacintho's foul shot gave Riga a 14-13 lead after one period.

Tillis's lay-up made it 22-16 for TTT midway through the second only to see Dorothea Richter's three-point play pull the Italians to within 22-21.

Lasma Jekabsone's foul shots kept Phard close 26-23 but Tillis continued her great game with five straight points and TTT were ahead 33-25 going into the break.

Martins Jacintho scored four points as Riga came out of the locker room on an 11-0 run for a 44-25 lead.

The margin grew to 21 points before Holland-Corn's three-ball made it 50-34 going into the fourth.

The Italians fought to tighten the game as Paola Mauriello and Holland-Corn knocked down three-pointers to cut the gap to 56-50 with four minutes left.

It was still a six-point lead until Martins Jacintho's jumper gave Riga a 62-54 advantage with less than a minute left to finish off any hopes for the Italians.

05.12.2007

Quotes TTT Riga vs. Phard Napoli

Mr. Ainars Cukste, Head coach, TTT Riga:

"I am happy with the result, we won. Our priority is defense. I am also a bit disappointed because we lost some concentration and confidence in the last quarter. Too bad we left some hope for the oponents. Partly it was related to defence because three of our tall players guarded our side of the court and that`s why we were less successful on offense."

"Our goal is to prepare well for the game with CSKA and we will concentrate on our defense."

Micaela Jacintho, TTT Riga:

"We played good, although lost some balls on both sides of the court. We need to be aggressive and play strong defense also in the next matches."

Nino Molino, Head coach, Phard Napoli:

"In the first two quarters we played well, but lost four balls in the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Riga took the opportunity and scored some easy baskets. Thanks to the zone we were in the game again but the difference in the beginning of third quarter was too big to recover.”