Home / Last news / The Women Apu start their Playoff journey in the best possible way, beating La Spezia in Game 1.
The Women Apu start their Playoff journey in the best possible way, beating La Spezia in Game 1.
April 27, 2024
Coach Riga’s girls beat Cestistica Spezzina at PalaCarnera and take a 1-0 lead in the playoff series.
A better start could not have been desired for coach Riga’s girls who took the lead in the series valid for the quarter-finals of the 2024 playoffs of the Women’s A2 Series and earned the match point to fly to the semi-finals in the next match.
Women Apu on the pitch with Bianchi, Bovenzi, Milani, Katshitshi and Cancelli to start the match which opens with captain Bacchini who gets a foul and scores both free throws. A wild Milani (8 points in the first half of the first quarter) paired with Bovenzi extends the Juventus lead, but Favre and Baldassarre keep the Spezzina basketball team close to the hosts. In the second half of the first half it was once again the Bovenzi-Milani tandem (16 points between them) that put the La Spezia defense in extreme difficulty as they still relied on Baldassarre to prevent the Women APU from going forward. An extension which, however, materializes at the end of the first quarter at the hands of Gregori who makes his debut in this match by scoring a 3/3 from the 3 point line (29-16).
The first four points of the second quarter were scored by Moretti who brought the Ligurian team back to a single digit deficit, followed by the usual Baldassarre who with a three-point basket forced coach Riga to time out with the score 31-23. The La Spezia team continues slowly but successfully to shorten the gap which, with 4 minutes left in the second half, is only 6 points. Katshishi, an irrepressible Milani (18 points in 19 minutes) and Gregori’s basket (12 points for her) push La Spezia back to -11 which closes the first half (48-37).
In the third quarter, coach Riga’s girls take the reins of the match firmly back into their hands and, led by Bovenzi and Katshishi, bring the Women APU back to a safe distance from the pressure from La Spezia on +18. Milani scores point number 23 of his match at the end of the third quarter, followed by a 2+1 from Katshishi which brings the scoreboard of number 11 to 15 and the score to 68 to 50 which closes the third quarter.
La Spezia reaction at the beginning of the fourth quarter with Favre, who with two consecutive baskets puts the Ligurian team back in the game, and Guzzoni’s bomb which reduces the gap to 10 points. Katshishi and Shash move the scoreboard for Udine but it is still Baldassarre with two consecutive baskets who keep the La Spezia team in the game. Match suspended 4 minutes from time due to Katshishi’s injury, who was left on a stretcher from the PalaCarnera parquet, to whom we wish a speedy recovery.
At the end of the match the plot of the match does not change with the visiting team who, despite a reasonable offensive efficiency, are unable to close the gap. The game ends with the result 78-66.
Women Apu Delser Crich Udine – Basketball Spezzina 78-66
(29-16, 47-37, 68-50)
Scoreboards
Women Apu Udine: Codolo NE, Ceppellotti NE, Bovenzi 10, Bacchini 4, Katshitshi 16, Milani 23, Shash 2, Cancelli 4, Agostini NE, Bianchi, Casella NE, Gregori 19. Coach Massimo Riga
La Spezia basketball: Colognesi 10, Castelli, Cappellotto 5, Templari 10, Baldassarre 11, Moretti 8, Favre 16, Candelori NE, Guzzoni 6, Guerrieri NE, Ratti NE
Referees: Michele Brondi and Mattia De Rico
(photo: Roberto Comuzzo)
