2018 Euroleague Women Final Four Review
The Arena Sopron in western Hungary played host to the 2018 edition of the Euroleague Final Four - the final of the most prestigious competition in European women's basketball, where a quartet of the very best teams would have a chance at capturing the title.
What's more, given how the season unfolded up to this points, with plenty of big names left by the wayside, it looked to be a very wide-open contest.
Of course, Sopron would have plenty of home fans behind them, but without the home advantage they would still be serious contenders here. They have been resilient competitors throughout this season. Turkey's representative Yakin Dogu's enormously successful Euroleague debut saw them book their Final Four place, where they would be hoping to ride that wave of success all the way.
Dynamo Kursk had an amazing, dominant route to this stage - having not lost a single game - while their compatriots Ekaterinburg would be looking to cement their reputation as one of Europe's most preeminent and feared clubs.
Many expected a grudge match in the highly-anticipated opening semi-final between Dynamo Kursk and Ekaterinburg - and they were right to. The teams were tied for much of the first quarter, until Maya Moore gave Ekaterinburg a firm lead with a three early in the second. Maria Vadeeva closed the gap to one, then a jump shot from Nneka Ogwumike gave Kursk their first lead of the game, which she extended to seven points as the quarter went on. Maya Moore and Brittney Griner combined to make it a one-possession game, but Angel McCoughtrey hit two from the line to ensure Kursk had the lead at half time.
No sooner had the game re-started had Kristi Tolliver given Ekaterinburg the lead back, and despite good looks on offence from Kursk, Ekaterinburg ran out to an eight-point in front. Griner then took their lead to double-digits, and in the fourth quarter Ekaterinburg's well-worked defence coupled with Kursk faltering on offence saw them comfortably in control of proceedings. Angel McCoughtry - who led her team with 26 points - was giving her all on both ends for Kursk, but every time they started to build some momentum, Ekaterinburg made their opponents' job harder by adding to their own tally. Ekaterinburg handed Dyanmo Kursk their first loss of the Euroleague season - 84 points to 77 - and advance to the final.
In the second semi final Yakin Dogu lead by five early on, but Sopron quickly turned the deficit around following an eleven-point unanswered run. Despite the best efforts from Jantel Lavender (who had a double-double with 10 points and rebounds), Courtney Vandersloot and Kayla McBride, Sopron's lead was asserted by Angela Salvadores, who gave the team their first double-digit lead mid-way through the second quarter.
In the second half the points started coming from distance for Sopron, and they led by as many as nineteen. Courtney Vandersloot and Olcay Cakir ended the third with consecutive three-pointers for Yakin Dogu to bring their arrears down to ten, and though Sopron began the fourth quarter with a jumper from Salvadores, the team started to stagnate as the final period went on.
Ten unanswered points from Yakin Dogu changed the contest into a one-point game, then Quanitra Hollingsworth put Yakin Dogu in the lead with two minutes left in the game. Seconds later Yvonne Turner put Sopron back in front by one, and the lead changed hands twice more before being tied at 65 with a minute to go. Attempts to put the game to bed fell short until Jelena Milovanovic got a three to drop in the last second of the game. Sopron's victory was sealed after a final mistake from Yakin Dogu, and they advance to their first Euroleague final in dramatic fashion.
Before the big game, though, Dynamo Kursk and Yakin Dogu faced off for third place, in a match-up that saw the teams jostling for the lead early on. Kursk went ahead by five after a ten-point unanswered run, then Elin Eldebrink hit from both long and close range to put Yakin Dogu up by one. Eldebrink was terrific for Yakin Dogu here, with good defence, sharing the ball well and scoring a team-high 21 points. A three from Natalia Zhedik then put Kursk up by one, and though the Russian team enjoyed the lead, there was almost nothing between the two sides mid-way through the game. Yakin Dogu had the better looks from the field, while Dynamo Kursk's success came from further out.
After allowing Kursk to go ten points clear early in the fourth quarter, Jantel Lavender had six-in-a-row which reduced the gap to two. It would only be a momentary flash of inspiration, though, as late success in the paint put Kursk back into a more comfortable lead. Though Yakin Dogu still went looking for baskets in the remaining time, their attempts came up short. With good showings throughout from Maria Vadeeva, Nneka Ogwumike and particularly Sonja Petrovic, who finished with 24 points, Dynamo Kursk get a place on the podium, winning this game 87-82.
And so this was it - Ekaterinburg against Sopron for the Euroleague title. It had been a long journey for both teams to make it to this point, and neither were about to let it be for nothing.
Making a big impression early on was Emma Meesseman: three layups in a row from her gave Ekaterinburg an early 11-3 lead. Jelena Milovanovic had five in a row for Sopron, then Zsofia Fegyvernkey hit a jump shot to make it a one-point game. The game went into a bit of a slump, then between them, Meesseman, Brittney Griner and Elena Beglova put Ekaterinburg up by ten after three minutes played in Q2. Sopron tried to bring the gap down, but after every successful attempt at basket, Ekaterinburg responded on the other end to keep their lead at ten points.
Yvonne Turner was doing everything she could on offence to lift Sopron, she finished with a game-high 21 points, while the Hungarian team also saw a good show from Danielle Page off the bench. Despite their best efforts on offence, they could not do enough on defence to contain Ekaterinburg from close range. Meesseman and Griner both had great shows on both ends of the floor, each of them were one rebound shy of a double-double while Griner also made five blocks in the contest.
With long periods of inactivity from Sopron down the stretch, the title kept getting further out of their reach - especially with Ekaterinburg's continued short-range success, which included an alley-oop from Maya Moore to Emma Meesseman. In the end, the inevitable happened: Ekaterinburg took their fourth Euroleague title with victory over Sopron in the final. As well as a second championship, Emma Meesseman adds another prize to her trophy cabinet: that of Euroleague Finals MVP.
