Nadezhda Overcome Polkowice Scare

Rebekkah Brunson was the top-scorer for Nadezhda with 19 points.

CCC Polkowice threw a late scare into Nadezhda on Wednesday but lost 74-71 in the EuroLeague Women.

In a game that had all the makings of a blowout but turned into a thriller in the last quarter, Sharnee Zoll intercepted a pass by Nadezhda's Rebbekah Brunson with 13 seconds left and Polkowice down by three points.

Zoll, a 25-year-old point guard, then attempted a shot from long range with two seconds to go but the ball stayed out and Nadezhda celebrated a narrow win.

Brunson ended up as the game's leading scorer with 19 points.

With the win, Nadezhda improved to 3-3 in Group B and Polkowice fell to 2-4.

Nadezhda had an ideal platform for a decisive victory after opening up a 27-13 lead by the end of the first quarter.

With 5:46 to play, they were on top 68-54.

Zoll responded.

Her lay-up started the comeback and her three-ball with 1:23 to go shaved the Nadezhda advantage to 72-69.

Katie Douglas made two free-throws to stretch the advantage back to five but after a Joanna Walich jump shot for Polkowice, the hosts failed to execute on their last possession as Zoll came up with the steal.

She ultimately missed, however, the potential game-tying three-pointer.

EuroBasket Women MVP Elena Danilochkina of Russia nailed three of her four attempts from behind the arc and finished with 17 points for Nadezhda.

Quotes Nadezhda vs. CCC Polkowice

CCC Polkowice head coach Arkadiusz Rusin:
"The game was quite nervous, we played good 25 minutes and bad 15 minutes, we lost the first quarter but managed to get close to our opponent. Nadezhda made easy shots we were not able to get stops and we lost in defense, switched to zone defense but were still unable to stop Rebekkah Brunson and Elena Danilochkina who were the key opponent's players in this game."

CCC Polkowice Player Sharnee Zoll:
"This was a tough game and the situation was that we could have won but were not strong enough at the end. We lost our position in the group ranking however the second part of the group playing schedule will be interesting and competitive and it's interesting to see who will have home advantage later on. I hope we play hard and will have chances to qualify from the group."

Nadezhda head coach Alexander Kovalev:
"The game wasn't an easy one. We finished the 1st quarter with +14 points difference but then we lost in the one-to-one game. The end of the game was rather tense and nervous. We were strong and finally secured this very important win for us."

Nadezhda guard  Elena Danilochkina:
"As our coach mentioned, today we made many mistakes and lost in one-to-one situations. However we beat CCC Polkowice. We have a strong team with good chemistry and each game we play we try to win."