CSKA Hang Ten On Group Opponents With Win Over MKB

CSKA Moscow capped an impressive Group A campaign in the EuroLeague Women with an 82-61 home triumph over MKB Euroleasing on Tuesday.

Russia international Maria Stepanova had a game-high 16 points and brought down 11 rebounds as her team kept up their unbeaten run this season in all competitions.

Ann Wauters had 15 points for CSKA as they finished perfect in their group.

CSKA had big contributions from French guard Edwige Lawson-Wade and Belgian center Ann Wauters, who added 15 points apiece.

Despite defeat, MKB Euroleasing still progress to the next round as third of the group.

They had five triumphs in their 10 games.

The Hungarian giants' offense stalled in the first quarter as CSKA stormed out to a 24-10 lead, with Stepanova scoring 12 points in that stanza.

The hosts went on a 12-5 run at the start of the second quarter and eventually built a 44-26 cushion by half-time.

With the score at 52-36 midway through the third quarter, three consecutive three-pointers by CSKA (two from Nicole Powell and one from Lawson-Wade) put paid to any hopes MKB would have had of a comeback.

They trailed 70-44 going into the final 10 minutes and lost heavily in the end.

Vetra Gundars' side out-rebounded MKB 41-30.

Hungarian shooting guard Katalin Honti led the Hungarian side with 13 points.

CSKA were 21 of 44 (47.7%) from two-point range and finished seven of 22 (31.8%) from behind the arc while their opponents made just four of their 16 (25%) from long range.

Quotes CSKA Moscow vs. MKB Euroleasing

CSKA Forward Olga Arteshina:

"I'm not happy with my personal statistics but I'm very happy that we are in the play-offs. Today we stop Sopron under the basket and in Hungary we won only by five points because of our mistakes. Tonight we were in a good mood and made all we planned."  

Sopron Forward Olexandra Gorbunova:

"In the first game in Hungary we surprised CSKA and it was a hard game. I think that we'll fight every game regardless the opponent. Anyway we are a very young team and CSKA has very experienced players in its roster."

CSKA Head Coach Gundars Vetra:

"Today the game decided nothing so we had no press on the court and in the preparation. But CSKA and Sopron are very ambitious teams so we fought till the end. So we finished the group round with not one defeat. We let all the players tonight, I'm very satisfied with our result. " 

Sopron Hungary Head Coach Norbert Székely:

"We knew before the game that we'll play against the best team and Europe and not only in Europe. They have very good players especially in the center position. We wanted to play our game and we are a little bit sad that we failed. The reason - for example, rebounds. But in general I'm satisfied by the game of my team today. We are on the third line in Euroleague and it's a good result for such young team as we are."