The first “derby of the ages” in A1 Women’s basketball… painted green!
With Anna-Niki Stamolambrou and Elizabeth Dixon giving excellent performances, the Panathinaikos prevailed upon me 62-55 of Olympiakos at “Pavlos Giannakopoulos” Indoor for the 2nd matchday of the championship.
After a balanced first half (32-29), the “greens” managed to turn the tide in their favor thanks to a very good offensive third quarter, reaching up to +13 (62-49) midway through the fourth period.
Leading the way for Basel Guzini was Dixon with one impressive double-double of 16 points and as many assistswith her Stamolambrau to score 19 points. For the “red and whites”, who fell to 1-1, she stood out Christinaki with 17 points.
The match:
THE Panathinaikos entered the match stronger and led 6-2 in the first two minutes of the derby. THE Olympic responded and with five points from Spyridopoulou passed for 6-7 at 5′before Dixon went ahead for the home team with back-to-back baskets to give the Greens the lead again, 10-9, a minute later. In the last two minutes of the period, the “red and white” found two three-pointers in a row by Christinaki for 12-17, with Cvitkovic shaping the 14-17 of the quarter.
With Panathinaikos’ first three-pointer in the match coming from Karakasidou in the 11th minute, the “green” equalized at 19-19. In fact, a little later, Stamolambrou also hit the target behind from 6.75m. for the new lead (22-19) a minute later. The good defense of Panathinaikos for the most part of the second period, allowed the team of Basilia Gousini to increase the difference for the first time to +7 (32-25) in the 18′, with Olympiakos reducing the difference in the final for 32-29 at halftime.
The scene was different at the beginning of the second half, where both teams played more aggressively improving their percentages, as a result of which the pace of the match opened up. With her Anna Stamolambrau to have an excellent third quarter with 10 points, Panathinaikos not only maintained the upper hand in the score, but even reached at +12 (49-37) at 37′ Spyridopoulou and Pilakouta were the ones who found the way to the basket and gave Olympiakos offensive “breathers”, with the quarter ending with a score of 54-46.
Somehow, in a very close and dynamic match, Panathinaikos entered the fourth and final period with a significant lead. A lead that the “greens” managed excellently, since with partial scores of 8-3 in the first 7 minutes of the quarter, they increased the difference at +13 (62-49)thus reaching victory with the final 62-55.
The quarters: 14-17, 32-29, 54-46, 62-55.
See here the statistics of the match.
Source: Sport Fm
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