Women's basketball league playoff final – 3rd match: USK Prague – Žabiny Brno, April 26, 2023, Prague. From the left, Michaela Vondráčková from Žabina Brno and Brionna Jonesová USK Prague.
Prague – ZVVZ USK Prague basketball players won a record 17th title in the Czech league. In the third final game, they beat Žabiny Brno at home 87:54 and won the series 3:0 in games. They won the highest competition for the thirteenth time in a row, equaling the streak of their current opponents from 1996 to 2008. Combined with the Federal League, the women from Prague won their 25th title and consolidated their lead at the top of the historical ranking ahead of Sparta (23).
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“You never get tired of these feelings. We do it all because of them,” USK coach Natália Hejková told reporters. “Before the match, I told the players not to underestimate anything. Unlike the match in Brno, it took us a while to get the locomotive going, but at least it was interesting for the spectators,” added the Slovakian coach, who should remain with the team next season .
USK went undefeated in the league for the 10th consecutive season and extended its record winning streak to 272 games. The last time in the competition he hesitated in the final in 2013 with the same opponent (then IMOS Brno). In this season, he also surpassed Brno's previous record (256 winning matches).
“It will be a pleasure. It was an up-and-down season. There were excellent matches, but also some that we didn't want. For example, the Euroleague still hurts us now,” Hejková recalled the fourth place in the Final Four.
The best player of the victorious of the team was Brionna Jones, who recorded a double-double in the game with 32 points and 12 rebounds. The American pivot also won the award for the most valuable player of the final series.
Like last year, the Frogs took second place and did not extend their collection of 14 titles. They last triumphed in the 2009/10 season. This season, in the absence of USK Prague, they won the domestic and Federal cups.
Before the start of the match, the home team's Simona Sklenářová received the prize for the under-23 player with the best ratio of assists and lost balls. USK wanted to follow up on the first two final victories 89:73 and 94:71. From the start, he had to do without María Conde, who injured her ankle after one of the fights.
“It happened when she ran up to one of the opponents and stepped on her leg. These are stupid injuries. Besides, this season is over. The only thing missing would be for someone to go into the tunnel and get picked up by a motorcycle,” said Hejková.< /p>
Brňanka had a great start, they kept the lead for the entire opening quarter and also led 20:15 thanks to Eliška Hamzová's six points. However, USK improved its defense in the second half and turned the situation around after an eleven-point streak. The main support was Jones, who already had 24 points and seven rebounds in the middle of the game. USK dominated the second part 34:12 and went to the cabins with a seventeen-point lead.
The women from Prague continued to increase their lead after the break, and Jones secured a double double during the third quarter. In addition, Brňany finished without point guard Hamzová, who injured her left leg at the beginning of the final part. The lead of the home team grew to 35 points at one point.
Finals of the women's basketball league playoffs – 3rd match:
USK Prague – Žabiny Brno 87:54 (15:20, 49:32, 67:41)
Most points: Jonesová 32, Voráčková 14, Wrzesińská 11 – Vondráčková 10, Stoupalová 9, Hamzová and Holmesová after 8. Fouls: 17:24. Free throws: 23/18 – 19/16. Triples: 5:2. Rebounds: 44:33.
