Rivas Remain Unbeaten With Win Over Kosice

Rivas Ecópolis are finding the EuroLeague Women waters very much to their liking with the Spanish club claiming a third straight win on Thursday night at the expense of Good Angels Kosice.

Playing in the competition for the first time, Rivas looked like seasoned campaigners in a 74-58 home triumph over Kosice in Group C.

Leading 12-10 early on, Javier Fort's side reeled off 12 consecutive points to grab the upper hand.

Clara Bermejo Moreno started the run with a three-ball and Anna Cruz followed with two free-throws.

Jelena Dubljevic added a lay-up and after Crystal Langhorne split one of two at the line, Dubljevic sank two free-throws before Spain international Cruz capped the spurt with a lay-up for a 24-10 lead.

Kosice, who have signed Linda Frohlich following the German's recent departure from Frisco Sika Brno, went on an 8-0 spurt to close the gap to 26-20.

Angel McCoughtry poured in five of the points in that run and Candace Dupree the other three.

A basket from Kosice's Luisa Michulková reduced the arrears to 36-31 by half-time.

Kosice stayed within five points for much of the third quarter but Rivas went on a 7-0 run late in the frame for a 55-43 advantage.

The hosts led by double digits the rest of the way, with their advantage reaching 22 late in the final period.

Dubljevic paced Rivas with 18 points while Cruz had 13 and Catherine Joens 12.

Bermejo Moreno has been hugely impressive yet for Rivas.

She buried all three of her shots from long range on her way to 11 points and dished out six assists while grabbing five rebounds.

As a team, Riva made nine of 14 shots from behind the arc with Joens four of seven.

McCoughtry had a game-high 19 points while Dupree finished with 17 along with 12 rebounds.

Qoutes Rivas Ecopolis vs Good Angels Kosice

Good Angels Kosice head coach Stefan Svitek:
"Rivas did a very aggressive play and overcame us in almost the whole match, they could play interior and also have a few excellent percentages in shot of three points, and this was the key.
It was difficult for us to enter the match and whenever we had good series of fortune they were always getting over and were scoring differences again."

Rivas Ecopolis head coach Javier Fort:
"We have started very centered defending very well, playing as a team and finding a lot good rhythm. When they changed their defense we had some difficulties, but we could look for solutions and be in charge of the game. For us it is very important that all the players contribute things and it is our key to be in the position that we are."

Rivas player Begoña García:
"It has been a very complicated match, but we have been able to find our rhythm both in defense and in attack and that made us strong against a very dangerous rival and who was coming with the need to win. We hope to continue at this level and make our fans happy."

Kosice player Alena Kovacova:
"It has been difficult to us to enter the match since they were defending very hard and that we had problems choosing good options in attack."