UMMC Ekaterinburg rode a strong first-half performance to an 82-71 victory at Lotos PKO BP Gdynia on Thursday.

The star-studded Russian outfit opened up a 23-18 lead by the end of the first quarter and then lowered the boom over the next 10 minutes, outscoring the Polish giants 23-12 for a 46-30 half-time advantage.

Lotos PKO BP gave themselves a shot at pulling off an unlikely comeback with a 12-2 run to finish the third quarter to trail 68-57.

The home fans were delirious when Ivana Matovic started the fourth quarter with consecutive jump shots to close the gap to 68-61.

Ekaterinburg's Asjha Jones replied with a pair of baskets for Ekaterinburg, though, and then former Lotos PKO BP star Agnieszka Bibrzycka, the Polish international, added a jump shot as the visitors went back into a 74-61 advantage.

Lotos PKO BP again reduced the deficit to seven with just under three minutes remaining with a shot from Emilija Podrug, but Sandrine Gruda and Jones again hit jumpers for a 78-67 lead.

Lotos PKO BP's Podrug led all scorers with 21 points while Deanna Nolan scored 19, Gruda 18 and Bibrzycka 15 in a balanced Ekaterinburg attack.

Cappie Pondexter, Ekaterinburg's new point guard, had 10 points and eight assists.

Ekaterinburg have now won two games to start to the EuroLeague Women while Lotos PKO BP are 0-2.