Jolene Anderson has found her touch

Just before Christmas Jolene Anderson (left) was punished by her club and had to sit out the last game of 2008.

Since her return after the Christmas break she has grown in confidence and last weekend in the French Cup game against Calais she hit 7-of-9 from behind the arc to lead her team in scoring with 24 points.

She again led the scoring for Villeneuve d’Ascq with another 24 points and 6-of-10 three-pointers as for her side beat the hosts, Clermont-Ferrand (99-81).

Anderson scored the first 3 points of the game as Villeneuve went into an early lead (6-2).

The guests easily dominated the first quarter (36-18) and maintained their momentum in a high-scoring second period to go into the interval (63-42).

However Villeneuve relaxed a little too much during the third period and allowed Claudia Das Neves and Elena Nikipolskaia to bring the hosts’ deficit down to 12 points at one stage.

Yet Géraldine Robert and Florence Lepron managed to get their team back on track. Hence Villeneuve went into the last quarter leading (81-67).

The last ten minutes of the match turned into a three-point festival by Anderson, Lepron and Ljubica Drljaca while the hosts did the best they could to stay in touch.

For Villeneuve d’Ascq other players in double digits were Robert with 19 points and 11 rebounds, Drljaca with 16 points and Lepron with 14 points and 6 assists. Lady Comfort and Fatimatou Sacko joined their team mates with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Clermont-Ferrand’s best scorers were Das Neves with 23 points and Nikipolskaia with 20 points. Emma Randall has officially left the club.

Asptt Arrras downed Lattes Montpellier

Marielle Amant (right) got Arras off to a flying start as her side raced to an early lead (11-3). They never looked back after winning the first quarter (26-11).

Sarah Michel and Leilani Mitchell and Bernie Mosby continued to work offensively as Arras opened a 20-point advantage (37-16) early in the second period.

Montpellier finally woke up and reduced their deficit to 10 points at the interval.

However they were unable to maintain the pressure during the third period and fell further behind (42-59).

Amant scored the first points of the final period.

With five minutes left to play Arras appeared to have the game won leading (65-51). But driven by Elodie Bertal and Sheana Mosch from Montpellier and the inside presence of Khadijah Whittington Arras lead shrunk to 9 points as the game entered money-time.

Yet it was Arras that played out the last two minutes better to win (76-62) with Amant scoring the last points of the match.

For Asptt Arras four players finished in double digits, led by Amant and Mosby with 19 points. Mitchell contributed 18 and Michel 16 points.

Lattes Montpellier’s American pair with Mosch and Whittington scored 21 and 16 points apiece while Bertal added 10 points.

Not pretty to watch but Union Hainaut did the job

Hainaut won at home by a flattering score line (73-48) against Aix-en-Provence. However the game was only really decided in the final period where they hit their guests 25-8.

Kathy Wambe‘s passing with 9 assists and Bernadette Ngoyisa’s finishing in the paint with 23 points were the key to their side’s victory.

Furthermore the last quarter offensive burst by Clémence Beikes (right) with 10 points and 10 rebounds assured Hainaut’s victory.

For Aix-en-Provence this match is a game they will quickly want to forget as they shot only 37 % from the field. Magalie Lacroix was their leading scorer with 23 points.

The rest of the news from round 20

Bourges Basket raced out to a (12-2) lead against Mondeville with less than five minutes played.

Afterwards they struggled to increase their advantage and led (20-12) at the end of the first period.

The two coaches, Pierre Vincent and Hervé Coudray, played cat and mouse for the following two quarters with Bourges Basket going into the final period leading (47-42).

The guests then tightened up defensively in particular on Rankica Sarenac (16 points) not allowing Mondeville to score more than 8 points.

Bourges Basket went on to win (65-50)with Ana Lelas leading the scoring with 12 points.