Lotos Edge Brno In Gdynia Thriller

Lotos Gdynia shocked Frisco Sika Brno on Thursday night to breathe life into their EuroLeague Women campaign.

After a difficult two weeks which saw prominent players Alana Beard, Paulina Pawlak and Emilija Podrug depart the club, the Gdynia outfit regrouped and beat the Czech giants 77-73 with a gritty effort.

Ivana Matovic poured in 17 points with seven coming in the final two minutes and Erin Phillips scored 16.

Of particular interest to Gdynia fans was the effort by Marta Jujka, who had hardly played this season.

Given minutes on the court after the player exits, she took advantage by scoring 11 points while also pulling down nine rebounds.

The club's new signing from Spartak Moscow Region, Louice Halvarsson, also contributed 10 points and four boards on her European debut with the team.

Frisco slipped to 5-4 with the defeat while Gdynia improved to 3-6 and moved into fourth place.

They are one win ahead of Szeviép and Tarbes heading into the last week of the season.

The Poles went in front by as many as 15 points in the second and third quarters but the Czechs eventually found their stride and mounted a comeback.

Trailing 50-35 early in the third quarter, Brno went on a 14-3 run that was capped by a Taj McWilliams basket.

Four straight points by Halvarsson pushed the Lotos lead back to 57-49 with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter.

Brno went on another scoring spurt, with Jelena Skerovic's three-ball cutting the deficit to 59-56 with 10 minutes to go.

After falling behind by eight in the final quarter, Frisco stuck to their guns and drew level at 67-67 with 4:00 remaining on a Petra Kulichova basket that took her points haul to 15.

However, Olivia Tomialowicz replied with a three-point play for Lotos.

Brno pulled to within one point twice more after made shots from Hollie Grima and Skerovic, but each time Matovic answered with jump shots.

Matovic then scored the final three points of the game with a shot from the arc 18 seconds from the end.

Kulichova finished with a game-high 19 points in defeat.

Quotes Lotos Gdynia vs. Frisco Sika Brno

Brno assistant coach Vlastimir Havlik:
"We played very poor basketball in the first half. We lost 13 points to Lotos after the first half and it was a big advantage for our opponents. In the second half we were very close but we missed a few easy shots."

Lotos head coach Jacek Winnicki:
"We are in a very difficult situation because we rebuild our team. We have many young players and we all wanted to prove that Lotos Gdynia still sounds very proud. My team played very good game. I am happy because we won in the end of the game."

Lotos player Olivia Tomiałowicz:
"We had to win if we want to play in the play offs. We still have a chance. today we showed our heart, character, we fought, we were strong as a team."

Brno player Petra Kulichova:
"We played very bad in defence, especially in the first half. We missed a lot of easy shots. "