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UMMC Ekaterinburg remain perfect in EuroLeague WomenRivas Ecópolis are not enjoying the EuroLeague Women campaign this season. They suffered their loss of the season with a home defeat against UMMC Ekaterinburg (54-76).
Sandrine Gruda (left) led the scoring for UMMC with 20 points. Her expected face-up against Courtney Paris was the highlight of the first quarter. Agnieszka Bibrzycka and Cappie Pondexter also finished in double figures with 14 and 11 points each. Céline Dumerc scored 8 points and dished out 4 assists. For the hosts Paris was the leading scorer with 17 points while Dewanna Bonner scored 12 points. UMMC Ekaterinburg: calm, cool and patient in beating Rivas EcópolisThe first five minutes of this EuroLeague Women game was a private scoring match between Courtney Paris from Rivas Ecópolis and Sandrine Gruda from UMMC Ekaterinburg. Paris was first to score her team's 7 points, while Gruda scored 8 points as her team led (10-7). The game opened up and both teams scored points on the fast break. However with a trey by Céline Dumerc and points by Gruda and Crystal Langhorne, UMMC edged the first quarter (21-14). The hosts were more lively at the start of the second quarter with Anna Cruz, Laura Nicholls and Vega Gimeno all getting on the score sheet. Yet UMMC stayed in control and stretched their advantage after a trademark three-pointer by Agnieszka Bibrzycka (28-20). Gruda's 12th point of the match gave UMMC a double digit lead (30-20) with five minutes left to play in the quarter. Nicoll's burst of energy and a trey from the top of the key by Dewanna Bonner brought the hosts right back into the game and briefly excited the home fans (25-31). UMMC slowed down the pace of the game while pushing the lead back to 10 points with points from Cappie Pondexter and Gruda. Some careless defending by UMMC allowed Paris to sneak in the back door and score the last points of the quarter. Gruda led the scoring with 15 points as UMMC went into the interval leading (35-27).
Bibrzycka (right) was not that happy. So on the next attack she got the ball early and knocked down the trey. UMMC continued to dominate Rivas defensively and extended their advantage (49-33) after a fast-break score from Ann Wauters with just under five minutes left in the quarter. Amaya Valdemoro was brought back in the game. Despite scoring she was unable to spark her team into putting a run together. UMMC calmly concluded the quarter with three-pointers by Pondexter and Bibrzycka (58-40). The final quarter turned into an exhibition as both sides relaxed on defense. The guests started shooting three-pointers while Rivas did a lot of scoring on fast breaks. UMMC ended winning the game (76-54). Rivas Ecópolis: Laura Nicholls 4, Laura Herrera DNP, Tamara Abalde DNP, Clara Bermejo Moreno 2, Linnéa Liljestrand 0, Courtney Paris 17, Elisa Aguilar 2, Vega Gimeno 4, Amaya Valdemoro 5 (4 assists), Dewanna Bonner 12, Anna Cruz 8, Paula Justel DNP Ummc-Ekaterinburg: Olga Arteshina 7, Anna Ostroukhova DNP , Sandrine Gruda 20, Elena Volkova DNP, Céline Dumerc 8 (4 assists), Tatiana Vidmer 0, Agnieszka Bibrzycka 11, Ann Wauters 8, Cappie Pondexter 14, Crystal Langhorne 8 Return to the EuroLeague Women index EuroLeague Women picture credits: UMMC Ekaterinburg Date created: 10 November 2010
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The match did not live up to its billing and was dominated from start to finish by the guests from Russia, UMMC Ekaterinburg.
UMMC took too long on their first attack and by the time Bibrzycka fired in her shot, the 24-second buzzer had gone so her effort was not counted.
