Dumerc Takes Bourges To Third

A season-high 24 points from Céline Dumerc took Bourges a long way towards claiming third in Ekaterinburg

Turning Point: The offensive game of Good Angels Kosice went AWOL in the final quarter, when they managed to score just one point during seven minutes and that was when the game slipped away from them. Everybody expected them to come alive again but they didn't - much to the credit of the tenacious Bourges defence.

Game Heroes: Celine Dumerc was inspirational with 24 points and seven rebounds whilst teenage guard Romane Bernies continued her excellent progress with an efficient 10 points and benefitted from playing alongside Dumerc for lengthy spells, rather than instead of her.

Stats Don't Lie: It was a disastrous night from downtown for Good Angels Kosice who went zero-for-seven from long-range in the first-half and finished 2-for-12.

Bourges Basket secured third place at the EuroLeague Women Final Eight after impressive defence and a season-high 24 points from Celine Dumerc helped to complete a 65-57 victory against Good Angels Kosice.

It was a performance which perfectly epitomised the fantastic spirit of Valerie Garnier and her players, who eventually climbed onto the podium despite being ravaged by injuries throughout the season.

Having missed the semi-final and been doubtful with a back injury, Endene Miyem suited up and played through the pain barrier which also made a big difference, leaving game-winner Dumerc extremely happy after the final buzzer.

She said, "I am so proud of my team because there were two Finals being played today and we won our Final."

"Kosice are a great team and after a long week, it was difficult to find the energy to finish very well but we did it."

The night certainly didn't start well for Bourges, finding themselves in the midst of a potentially killer early drought with just one basket by Dumerc in six minutes, leaving them down by double-figures at 19-7.

However, a sizeable dose of offensive woe then besieged Kosice who lost the momentum after they ran dry and only mustered one basket in six minutes, leaving Miyem to hit a jump-shot to narrow to 21-18.

Minutes later, Dumerc pulled up from three-point range and tied the scores at 23. Whilst Kosice made successive scores at the hoop, Dumerc drained another triple to ensure Kosice had only a slender one-point lead heading to the locker rooms.

Bourges were finding their range from outside as Johanna Leedham made it 31-29 but it wasn't until midway through the third quarter when Allie Quigley finally got the first three-pointer for Good Angels.

The outcome hung in the balance at 40, even after Romane Bernies scored in last seconds of the penultimate period to give Bourges a modest advantage.

It was still an intense struggle for both teams and a one-shot game at 49-46 with five minutes to play, but as Kosice laboured on offence, Emmeline Ndongue and Leedham made successive scores to grab the initiative and Good Angels couldn't recover.