Ros Work Hard To See Off Sparta&K

Turning Point: The first four minutes of the final quarter cost Sparta&K and led to much of their great work being undone as Ros posted a devastating 12-0 run.

Game Heroes: Laia Palau finished with nine points, five rebounds, five assists and made three of three from downtown in a pivotal performance.

Tournament favourites Ros Casares dug themselves out of an early hole to secure a hard fought and vital 77-66 success against Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje.

Sparta&K had started the contest by picking up where they left off in their first game against Wisla Can-Pack with a super shooting display during the first couple of quarters.

Perhaps surprisingly, Ros allowed them plenty of space to shoot the ball from long-range and they took full advantage. Having raced into an early double digit lead at 18-8 courtesy of a vibrant opening quarter, they extended their lead early in the second period.

Back to back three-balls by Marina Kuzina and Sonja Petrovic made it 24-13 and had Ros Casares on the back foot.

The Spanish club was giving up far too many offensive rebounds to their smaller opponents and combined with missing too many lay-ups in the post, it was developing into a frustrating day for Coach Iniguez and his players.

However, trailing 39-27 with less than sixty seconds until the interval, they gave themselves a huge lift for the second half when they also found their range as Lauren Jackson and Laia Palau both converted from outside to cut the gap to just six points.

The game continued to develop into a shootout as firstly the pendulum swung right back to Sparta&K when Becky Hammon came out and hit a three-pointer before Jackson replied with another couple of triples to reduce the damage to 47-45.

Heading into the last period, Ros still trailed by four points but they turned the game on its head with a scorching 12-0 run.

As hard as they tried, Sparta&K couldn't recover fully from the setback. They narrowed to within two points but Ros completed their comeback and sealed a second win in as many days.

Quotes Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje vs. Ros Casares

Ros Casares head coach Roberto Iniguez
"First congratulations to the players of Sparta&k. They played very good today. It was again so hard for us. I am very proud of my team. They believe every time into win. In the last period I think we played as best as we can defensively. We made shoots and no mistakes like in three periods before."

Ros Casares centre Ann Wauters
"It is a battle, a fight. I think Sparta&k Moskow was really hard and strong. They were confident and they made a lot of shots eleven of which were three pointers. We were just slow at the beginning. We missed a lot of open shots and then we fought back. We won against a team with a lot of experience in the coaching staff. For us it is just another step and we stay focus for the rest of the tournament."

Sparta&K M. R. Vidnoje head coach Pokey Chatman
"First of all congratulations to Ros Casares. They are one of the top teams in the world. I think we did a decent job on being aggressive. But getting some opportunities at the free throw line is definitely something we need to work on. The tournament is not over. Now we will get to back to work."

Sparta&K forward Sonja Petrovic
"Everybody knows Ros Casares is a good team and we have had a hard game. Ros Casares has a lot of good player but of course we could be sorry because we had a lot of chance today and yesterday also. We have a game tomorrow, a big game. We have more things to show and we have to just get the most important things from this game and we will cover."