The Qualifying Round of the Euroleague Final Six Awaits Casademont Zaragoza
### A Chaotic Encounter in Venice
The Casademont Zaragoza women’s team secured their spot in the qualifying round of the Euroleague Final Six after a 39-44 victory over Umana Reyer Venice. The match was marked by intense nervousness from both teams, leading to an unusual score for a tournament of this caliber. Three key statistics illustrate the chaotic nature of the encounter: neither team reached 30% accuracy in field goals, and there were 19 local losses and 25 visitor losses.
### A Win in the City of Canals
The win in Venice has earned Casademont Zaragoza a spot in the eliminatory round, where they will face the third or fourth-placed team in group E. The winner of this round will advance to the Final Six, which will take place in Zaragoza from April 9 to 13. Although the team has secured a spot in the qualifying round, there is still a possibility of fighting for second place.
### A Positive Start and a Phase of Turnovers
The Aragonese team started the match strong, thanks to a solid defense that put the Italian attacks in trouble. The good control of Umana Reyer Venice’s most important player, Awak Kuier, who scored only one point in the first ten minutes, also contributed to the team’s initial success. However, this gave way to a phase with numerous turnovers, up to 7, which allowed the Italians to close the gap on the scoreboard.
### A Carousel of Errors and a Breakout
The start of the second quarter was marked by a carousel of errors from both teams, with turnovers and errors in simple shots. However, the Aragonese team managed to break out and take a 12-16 lead, ending a streak of four and a half minutes without scoring. From there, the team minimized losses and took off on the electronic scoreboard, scoring 11 points (12-22) in the 19th minute.
### A Disastrous Return and a Good Defense
The ‘rojillo’ team returned from the locker room with a disastrous 7-0 run, product of losses and errors that brought the Venetians closer to two points (23-25) in just a minute and a half. However, the Aragonese team overcame this setback with a good defense, scoring a partial 0-12 in five and a half minutes and putting the maximum visitor advantage in the light (23-37) in the 26th minute.
### A Triple and a Nervous Breakdown
In the final act, a triple from Laia Flores put a +11 for the Zaragoza team (29-40) that seemed like it could break the game. However, the losses and failures in the shots were repeated, reliving their particular ‘groundhog day’ and allowing the Italians to get within 6 points (34-40) in the 36th minute. The state of nervous breakdown of the locals was greater than that of the visitors, and the Venetian errors allowed Casademont Zaragoza to win a victory that assures them, at least, fourth place in the group and their presence in the qualifying round prior to the Final Six.
The Technical Sheet
Umana Reyer Venice (10+6+13+10): Villa (4), Smalls (5), Pan (2), Cubaj (4), Kuier (10) -starting five- Berkani (3), Nicolodi (-), Stankovic (4), Fassina (5) and Santucci (2).
Casademont Zaragoza (11+14+12+7): Mariona Ortiz (6), Atkinson (9), Mawuli (2), Nystrom (6), Gatling (5) -starting five- Mané (-), Brcaninovic (-), Laia Flores (4), Pueyo (7) and Beautiful (5).
Referees: Özlem Yalman (Türkiye), Nikolaos Tziopanos (Greece) and Nermin Hodzic (Germany).
Incidents: match corresponding to the fourth day of group F of the Euroleague played at the Palasport Taliercio in Venice (Italy).