10.11.2010

Early Run Propels Kosice Past Riga

TTT Riga picked up where they left off in their previous game against Cras Basket Taranto as they continued their poor run in EuroLeague Women Group A to go down 77-60 against a Charde Houston inspired Good Angels Kosice to crash to successive home floor defeats.

The forward reminded everyone there is more to Kosice than Candice Dupree and Zuzana Zirkova this season after pouring in a stunning 27 points.

Having collapsed in the fourth quarter of their previous game, TTT Riga were always likely to look fragile in the early exchanges during this match-up and so it proved as their defence again leaked baskets far too readily.

They gave up 29 first quarter points to trail by ten as the visiting team enjoyed their freedom to score all too easily.

While the home defence definitely locked down Good Angels Kosice far better in the second quarter to hold them to just 14 points in the period, it was to the detriment of their offence.

Despite doing a good job defensively, TTT Riga could didn't even break double figures during the next ten minutes which meant they headed to the locker rooms in trouble and trailing 43-28.

They fared much better after the break and when a Kim Butler basket made it a five point game, the home supporters might had reason to cheer - but only temporarily.

Kosice began to ease away again and with Houston in irresistible form, they edged away again and eventually ran out as easy winners.

Dupree had a double double of 17 points and 10 rebounds for the winning team while Zirkova had 16 points and 6 assists.

Shavonte Zellous and Kristine Karklina both registered 17 points for TTT Riga who are still searching for their first win in Group A.

 

10.11.2010

Quotes TTT Riga vs. Good Angels Kosice

Charde Houston, Good Angels Kosice player:
"I am satisfied with the outcome of the game, because the whole team played well. This is a massive win for us, we still had our first game (the loss in Taranto) in our minds. And we got momentum from our first home win against USO Mondeville. Once we come together and play hard, we can show some really good basketball."

Stefan Svitek, Good Angels Kosice Head Coach:
"We started the game well with a lot of effort, lot of intensity. We dictated the tempo and played our transition game. After the first quarter we were able to control the game and achieve our goals. When we had the opportunity we played transitional offense and we tried to be patient in our offense, and play longer and run the shot-clock down. The home team had their momentum in the game, especially in the beginning of the third quarter but we made sure it was short and found our way back into the game."

Kristine Karklina, TTT Riga player:
"Our opponents played very well in the first quarter, unlike us. Maybe we didn`t have enough confidence in the start, I don`t know. We didn`t reduce the gap until the end of the first half. We started to play better after the break, both in defense and on the offense end of the court. We didn`t score well in the paint, it`s the same story with our three point shots."

Aigars Nerips, TTT Riga Head Coach:
"We tried to contain the leaders of Kosice - Dupree, Zirkova and Houston. We stopped Zirkova and Dupree in the first half but didn`t manage to contain Houston. Three times Kosice escaped from us and three times we closed the gap, however we didn`t succeed in our efforts to find someone to stop Houston."