Cruelly, Cavigal falls 69-78 on the court of Nantes-Rezé and will not play the play-offs. They were only 4 points short in the confrontation against Charleville-Mézières to achieve a great feat. The season is and will remain exceptional.
A qualification that hinged on 4 points, on a completely missed 3rd quarter in Nantes, on a few moments of lapse on the court of Charleville-Mézières during the replayed match. Yet, at the end of September, when the Niss’Angels arrived at Coubertin (Paris), the LF2 champion never imagined competing for the playoffs until the last day. The final record of 18 wins and 8 losses goes down in the history of the Azurean club.
Missed locker room returns
The scenario was simple: they needed to win in Nantes or rely on a defeat of Charleville-Mézières against Angers. For over 20 minutes, the Nice players did “the job,” as we like to say. At halftime, driven by the duo of Hurt-Diawara, the Niss’Angels held a 6-point lead (35-29). But in two minutes, Rachid Méziane’s team conceded a terrible 13-3 run (39-31, 22nd then 42-44, 24th). Three minutes later, the Nantes team accelerated again to have a 5 then 10-point lead at the end of the 3rd quarter (50-60). Never, in the last quarter, could Cavigal overcome such a deficit, which even stretched to 16 points (55-71) five minutes before the buzzer.
The Déferlantes live up to their name
The great MVP of this meeting is Spanish. Queralt Casas, at the age of 23, had an outstanding match, compiling 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Nantes team was surprisingly successful from long range with a 13/27 three-point shooting. On the Nice side, the double-double from Courtney Hurt (14 points and 14 rebounds) proved insufficient.
At the same time, Villeneuve d’Ascq beat Lattes-Montpellier (69-58), and Charleville-Mézières logically defeated Angers (77-57). Nice, therefore, finishes 5th in the Women’s League on point-average with the Ardennes club. The Azureans had won 73-67 on March 30, but in the return match, they couldn’t do anything during the replayed match (loss 66-76).
What a coincidence…
Ironically, in the first round of the Challenge Round (teams ranked between 5th and 8th place), the Nice team will face Nantes-Rezé again in a home-and-away matchup (first leg on May 3rd in Nantes, return on May 5th in Nice) before a potential “final” against Lyon or Basket Landes. The goal: 5th place!
