Cavigal Nice Basket, second to last, had a tough challenge with the visit of Bourges, the current leader of the Women’s Basketball League. A one-sided match and a victory for the visitors, 80 to 47, but the important dates for the Niçoises are yet to come…
Tango Bourges Basket was seen as a scarecrow and was a tough memory for the Niçoises. During the 3rd day, Bourges had hosted the team from the French Riviera and had handed them a true thrashing, 83-41. Today, leaders of the championship, the Berruyères led by Céline Dumerc are relentless and have recently defeated Ekaterinburg in the European Cup, which is none other than the reigning European champion team, favored to succeed themselves.
In this context, Rachid Méziane’s players had to play all their shots to give themselves some breathing room and get out of the danger zone. Although the match was very complicated from the start, the Niçoises entered the game well, directly challenging the leaders of the Women’s League. However, Bourges quickly woke up, imposing their game, leading 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.
In front of motivated and loud supporters in a nearly full Leyrit hall, Cavigal quickly caught up in the score (15-17) after a good start to the second quarter. However, a few Nice mistakes gradually allowed Tango to widen the gap, reaching a logical halftime score of 37-24 for the visitors.
On her part, the playmaker and “robber,” Céline Dumerc, hadn’t scored any points yet. Her awakening in the second half would be more than brutal and would allow her teammates to take a decisive lead. The 10 minutes of the third quarter were one-sided, with Bourges stringing together baskets while Cavigal continued to miss.
With 15 minutes left to play, Bourges already had a 21-point lead. This gap would even reach 30 points by the end of the quarter. Tango made the Niçoises dance and led 61-31. Nice conceded 24 points during this disastrous quarter while scoring only a small 7 points.
The Cavigal players showed the desire to finish on a good note and offered a good start to the last quarter. But the games were decided long ago, and the final score was 80 to 47 for Tango Bourges Basket.
Cavigal’s will and drive were not enough against the other robbers of the team, silver medalists at the London Olympics with Les Bleues, Endéné Miyem and Diandra Tchatchouang. They finished with 21 and 16 points respectively. On the Nice side, it was the Czech Katerina Zohnova who saved their honor with her 14 points.
The third quarter is one to forget, and errors need to be corrected before hosting Angers, a direct competitor for survival, on February 8th.
