USVO fell at home to Mondeville in an incredible finish. Nicole Ohlde carried USVO with 21 points but it was Caroline Aubert who won the day for Mondeville in the last minutes with the last 4 points for them to win (70-67).
Bourges Basket had a nightmare start and trailed by 18 points to Clermont-Ferrand at the break. Bourges recovered in the third period with suffocating defence and held their opponents to 2 points while they hit 25. The final quarter belonged to Belinda Snell as she led Bourges to an important victory (76-56).
Gunta Basko is making up for lost time as she hit 32 points against Reims
Lattes Montpellier 76-58 Reims (27-20, 18-13, 20-12, 11-13)
All the LFB news will be about the performance of Gunta Basko who finished with 32 points including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. She scored 13 points during the third period and also scored 11 consecutive points for her side before bowing out of the game (74-50).
The game started well for Reims with Mia Fisher scoring the first 5 points in the match and taking an early lead (7-2). Grace Daley responded with 5 points for the hosts to level the game (7-7). Unfortunately the game for Daley ended shortly after to what appeared to be a twisted ankle.
Gunta Basko (above in picture) then went on to hit 3-of-3 from beyond the arc despite an aggressive zone by the guests as Montpellier took hold of the game (27-20).
The second period was rather scrappy as neither side was able to construct anything tangible. Montpellier maintained their advantage. The highlight of the quarter belonged to Charline Savage, a promising youth player from Montpellier, who hit a trey and finished the scoring off a fast break at the buzzer with her side going into the break leading (45-33).
The second half of the match belonged to Gunta Basko. Yet it was her team mate Katia Manic who started the fireworks with 8 consecutive points (53-37). Montpellier soon passed the 20-point mark. Only the work of Fisher and Marie-Laure Fleury-Kindoki (left) from Reims kept the scoreline respectable (65-45).
Then Basko scored the first 7 points of the last period (72-45) to finally end the game as a contest. Valéry Demory then turned to his bench and allowed the youth players to finish the game alongside Sandra Dijon and Aurélie Bonnan.
Montpellier only scored 2 points after Basko returned to the bench as they held off the late challenge by their guests to win (76-58).
Montpellier: Katia Manic 12, Grace Daley 5, Chris Jouandon DNP, Gunta Basko 32, Aurélie Bonnan 8, Sandra Dijon 4, Elodie Bertal 2, Charline Servage 5, Marlyse Guerra 0, Gaëlle Skréla 8, Manon Vierne 0
Reims: Amélie Fresnais 0, Anne-Sophie Pagnier 8, Mame Marie Sy 9 (5 rebounds), Anne-Marie Parau 4, Stéphanie Blanquart DNP, Marie-Frédérique Ayissi 0, Manon Sinico 4, Zuzanna Klimesova 4, Marie-Laure Fleury-Kindoki 17, Mia Fisher 12
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Bourges‘ supporters given a scare
Clermont-Ferrand 56-74 Bourges Basket (22-13, 22-13, 2-25, 10-23)
Bourges are the only club without an American on their roster but the WNBA are represented with Belinda Snell (left in picture). In a curious match by Bourges’ standards Snell was the star player and will occupy most of the space in the LFB news section of the regional papers as she finished with 26 points with 6-of-13 coming from the 3-point territory, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
In terms of curiosity Bourges made an early mistake with the team sheet which had Florence Lepron in the starting line instead of Emméline Ndongue. This did not stop Bourges getting off to a good start with back-to-back 3-pointers by Cathy Melain and Snell.
Clermont-Ferrand then went to work and hit their guests 10-0 with points coming from all areas of the court with Elena Nikipolskais controlling the paint and Claudia Das Neves showing her skills from down-town. Clermont did not drop the pace and finished the first period ahead (22-13).
Bourges trailing by 22
Clermont-Ferrand continued to pressurise Bourges and with Vita Kuktiene taking over offensively and to add with a series of clutch shooting from the land of many 13 quick points (35-13) to complete a 19-0 run.Bourges trailing by 22 then changed their defensive systems, attempting to reduce their deficit, which disturbed their opponents slightly. 
Jennifer Butler (left) took over the offensive baton from her colleagues and Clermont went into the break leading (44-26).
Last season Bourges were known for suffocating opponents defensively and in the third period they only allowed Clermont-Ferrand 2 points. Ndongue became the battering ram as Bourges was going offensively. Endeme Miyem regained her confidences and Snell was sublime with their side reducing their deficit.
Melain levelled the score (46-46) and Miyem and Ndongue did the rest as Bourges went into the final period leading (51-46).
Bourges continued their aggressive defence and increased their advance (64-52). Snell then finished the game off in style with 3-pointers as Bourges won by a comfortable margin (74-56).
Clermont-Ferrand: Anaël Lardy 8, Claire Tomaszewski 0, Guiday Mendy 0, Jennifer Butler 8 (15 rebounds), Pauline Krawczyk 9, Claudia Das Neves 13, Vita Kuktiene 14, Noémie Lemaire DNP, Elena Nikipolskaia 4
Bourges: Sonja Petrovic DNP, Belinda Snell 26, Cathy Melain 9, Endene Miyem 16, Ana Cata-Chitiga DNP, Céline Dumerc 2 (6 assists), Carine Paul DNP, Sonja Kireta 7, Florence Lepron 0, Emméline Ndongue 14, Nora Bujdoso 0
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USVO went down at home to Mondeville
Valenciennes 67-70 Mondeville (23-12, 14-22, 10-15, 20-21)
USVO started the match well and appeared to have everything under control by the end of the first period leading (23-12).
USVO continued to control the game and increased their advantage (30-18). Mondeville only put one 3-pointer all night but since Meredith Alexis’ arrival they have found more confidence in their inside game and fought back reducing USVO’s lead at the interval (37-34).
Paoline Salgnac and Leane Williams offered alternatives for Mondeville while USVO relied on Nicole Ohlde as the game became very tense: Mondeville edged in front and went into the final period leading (49-47).
The game remained tied but once Krissy Bade put USVO in front (61-60) the pendulum was in favour of USVO and they pushed their advantage up to (65-60). Mondeville was not done and Alexis brought them to within 1 point (66-65).
With the game deep into money-time Caroline Aubert, the passer, became the scorer as she gave Mondeville the lead. The last seconds were messy by both sides. Eventually Aubert was at the free-throw line once more. She made no mistake to condemn USVO to their first defeat at home for this season.
USVO: Camille Aubert 0, Laurie Koehn 3, Francesca Zara 4, Sarah Michel DNP, Amélie Pochet 2, Emilie Gomis 11, Krissy Bade 12, Sabrina Reghaïssia 10 (10 rebounds), Nicole Ohlde 21, Reka Cserny 4
Mondeville: Paoline Salagnac 18, Caroline Aubert 9 (9 assists), Ingrid Tanqueray 0, Jennifer Digbeu 10, Leane Williams 14, Meredith Alexis 15, Naura El Gargati 0, Pauline Jannault 4
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Tarbes left it late
Tarbes 66-64 Villeneuve d’Ascq (20-16, 18-24, 10-17, 18-7)
Villeneuve’s weakness in finishing games was on display again as they allowed a 10-point lead to evaporate and hence allowing Tarbes to win an exciting game.
Liz Moeggenberg who appears to enjoy playing in January was having a quiet game offensively. But she fired up her team-mates as she hit back-to-back baskets before Clémence Beikes from Tarbes tied the match (63-63). Villeneuve missed the experience of Kathy Wambe and Luba Djljaca as Tarbes went on to take the game with Jaklin Zlantanova (in picture)putting a 3-pointer in with three minutes left. Two seconds before the end Villeneuve was in possession of the ball but could not complete their action on time.
Villeneuve d'Ascq: Bintou Diémé 7 (6 assists), Bénédicte Fombonne 1, Jucirama Dantas 9, Luba Drljaca DNP, Géraldine Robert 11, Kathy Wambe DNP, Fatimatou Sacko 17, Shala Crawford 10 (11 rebounds), Jasmina Ilic 9
Tarbes: Kristen Mann 15 (6 assists), Fatima De Camacho 5, Laure Savasta 2, Jaklin Zlatanova 7, Clémence Beikes 7, Carole Leclair DNP, Alexia Kusion DNP, Liz Moeggenberg 9, Isabelle Yacoubou DNP, Gisela Vega 21
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K. B. Sharp shot Aix to victory
Challes-les-Eaux 57-68 Pays d'Aix (14-12, 13-12, 11-26, 19-18)
K. B. Sharp (in picture) put her disappointment of Wednesday’s defeat behind her as she hit 23 points. Sharp also took 7 rebounds and dished out 4 assists as Aix surprised Challes-les-Eaux (68-57).
Tiffany Jackson from Challes had another good match and finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
Challes: Tiffany Jackson 17 (10 rebounds), Claire Vanhoutreve DNP, Laina Badiane 2, Emilie Duvivier 0, Slavka Frniakova 5, Stéphanie Dubois 4, Johanne Gomis 2, Martina Luptakova 15 (6 assists), Jessica Davenport 12, Marie Bacquet 0
Aix: K. B. Sharp 23, Joyce Cousseins-Smith 0, Liad Suez-Karni 9, Ines Kresovic 9, Magali Lacroix 10, Yacine Sene 13, Anda Jekabsone DNP, Stéphanie Beuzelin 4
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