Sandrine Gruda paced UMMC Ekaterinburg to an 81-72 win at ZVVZ Prague on Wednesday in a EuroLeague Women Group B game.

The Russians remain perfect with Gruda pouring in 19 points and grabbing six rebounds for the winners.

She had stout support from Penny Taylor who added 17 points and six rebounds while Deanna Nolan (16) and Asjha Jones (10) also hit double figures.

Three Taylor free throws sealed the win for the Russians after Lindsay Whalen's jump shot had narrowed the deficit to 78-72.

ZVVZ Prague kept contact with the visitors for the duration of the game but were not able to overtake at any stage.

Whalen, with 21 points and 11 boards, performed heroically but in vain for the Czechs.

Janell Burse added 13 points to her game high 12 boards while Sandra Le Drean (13) and Michaela Ferancikova (13) also made double digit contributions.

Lubor Blazek, coach ZVVZ Prague:

"It s a pity, that we couldn't prevent their fast breaks at certain stages of the game. In the second half we also started failing in defensive rebounds. From our point of view it was an absolutely different game, I am satisfied with our play. We didn't make easy points and we were getting them instead, especially from Sandrine Gruda. However we played a good match, our performance is very motivating."

Laurent Buffard, coach UMMC Ekaterinburg:

“On our way to Prague we knew we were preparing for a very difficult match, because USK is a good team and we knew that the participation of Lindsey Whalen and Michaela Ferancikova will make this game completely different from the one in Ekaterinburg. ZVVZ USK played very good and we made mistakes in defence and in rebounds. I appreciate this vitory and I believe it will pace us for our next game with Krakow."