LFB March madness in the air

With the LFB regular season coming to its end, this weekend marked the first game in a three-game week.

Charleville-Mézières's coach Romuald Yernaux (in picture) was disappointed in his team's home defeat (55-58) against Challes-les-Eaux.

His players had all the cards in their hand leading when they went into the final quarter (41-37). They even increased their advantage to 7 points with seven minutes to play.

Instead of slowing the pace of the game down they continued to play at pace and shot early which favoured the more experienced players from Challes-les-Eaux.

Mistie Bass, Bianca Thomas and Magalie Lacroix (right) went on the rampage and with three minutes left to play Challes-les-Eaux had taken the lead (54-48).

The hosts fought back with big scores from Kristen Mann and Bulgarian international Ekaterina Dimitrova to make it a 2-point game with just over two minutes to play.

Challes once again went 6 points clear, a deficit which was reduced by a 3-point play by Amel Bouderra.

Charleville-Mézières had the very last play. As Bouderra drove to the basket she slipped. But she still managed to keep control of the ball and got a pass out to Mann who had to shoot from behind the arc. Her shot hit the rim and bounced out and overtime was not required.

Bass with 19 points and 9 rebounds was once again the player of the match, while Lacroix and Thomas finished with 15 and 11 points each.

For the hosts Djéné Diawara led the way with 16 points while Bouderra and Mann scored 13 and 11 points each.

You can read here about the LFB basketball news from the previous round.

The rest of the LFB news from Saturday and Friday

Toulouse were unable to hold on to their 11-point lead (33-22) midway through the second quarter against Tarbes and lost in overtime (65-67).

In another close finish Union Hainaut Basket were beaten at home on the buzzer by Yacine Séné (left) from USO Mondeville (66-67).

Aix-en-Provence were close on the heels of Bourges Basket for 20 minutes. They trailed by just 2 points at the interval (28-30).

Yet Bourges Basket stepped up during the third quarter in a shooting festival to lead (54-45) going into the last quarter.

All the players from Bourges scored at least 5 points in the (75-62) victory while Natalie Hurst (right) hit 23 points for Aix-en-Provence.

Montpellier's LFB championship play-off ambitions have almost been achieved after beating Villeneuve d'Ascq (75-51).

Montpellier took control of the match with a 12-0 run at the start of the third quarter (50-36).

Villeneuve d'Ascq never recovered and scored just 15 points during the last 15 minutes which was not enough to trouble the hosts.

On Friday evening Nantes-Rezé ended COB Calais' LFB stay with a comfortable victory (77-58). Lindsay Taylor was once again on form with 20 points and 12 rebounds for Nantes.

Another LFB success on the road for Basket Landes

Basket Landes trailed for 38 minutes against Arras but walked away with a victory (67-63). Katarina Manic (in picture) from Basket Landes with 18 points and 5 assists was the hero of the day.

The final LFB match of the weekend turned out to be difficult for the officials who were put under a lot of unnecessary pressure from the home supporters.

The fans of Arras were out in force and were treated to a first quarter of quality inside play by their side with Marielle Amant scoring 8 points.

Olesia Malashenko added 7 points which included a shot from the land of many as the home side dominated the first quarter (23-17).

Tamera Young and Jennifer Humphrey started to dominate the rebounds for Basket Landes during the second quarter.

The free-flowing scoring of the first quarter stopped and the game became more physical. However Arras maintained their advantage going into the interval (37-32) by hitting 6-of-7 from the charity stripes.

Arras appeared to have everything in control with a 9-point lead (50-41) after 29 minutes played.

Basket Landes finished the third quarter on a high with a Julie Barennes three-pointer buzzer beater and trailed by just 4 points (46-50).

The match became more physical and the officials were calling fouls right, left and center.

Arras were still in front (57-56) with three minutes to play when Humphrey fouled out for Basket Landes.

Instead of Arras taking advantage of this situation, it was Basket Landes who turned things around with Manic and Marion Laborde combining for 9 of their team's final 11 points.

Basket Landes' ambition this season in the Ligue Féminine de Basket is a place in Europe next season and this victory keeps their ambitions alive.

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LFB results of week 23:

Nantes-Rezé 77-58 COB Calais

Nantes-Rezé: Florine Basque 0, Caroline Aubert 14 (6 assists), Joyce Cousseins-Smith 4, Mélanie Plust 2, Allison Hightower 6, Yuliya Andreyeva 9, Mame-Marie Sy-Diop DNP, Lindsey Taylor 20 (14 rebounds), Sabine Niedola 0, Emilija Podrug 16 (10 rebounds)

COB Calais: N'Deye N'Diaye 2, Sylvie Gruszczynski 18, Mélanie Devaux 2, Aurélie Cibert 3, Mélanie Arnaud 2, Manon Sinico 10, Pelagia Papamichail 5, Brigitte Ardossi 16

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Toulouse 65-67 Tarbes

Toulouse: Lou Mataly DNP, Jessie de Colo 0, Camille Aubert 6 (7 assists), Chandrea Jones 16 (11 rebounds), Emilie Maurice 13, Leslie Matanga 0, Lola de Angelis 5, Shanavia Dowdell 11, Suzanna Milovanovic 14

Tarbes: Roneeka Hodges 4, Jelena Dubljevic 19, Ivanka Matic 15, Pauline Jannault-Lo 11, Biljana Pavicevic 2, Isis Arrondo 0, Naura El Gargati 7, Florence Lepron 3, Darline Nsoki 0, Brooke Smith 6

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Charleville-Mézières 55-58 Challes-les-Eaux

Charleville-Mézières: Amel Bouderra 13, Belinda Mboma 2, Sarra Ouerghi 4, Alexia Kusion 5, Ekaterina Dimitrova 4, Kristen Mann 11, Djéné Diawara 16, Eléonore Grossemy 0, Patrycja Gulak-Lipka 0

Challes-les-Eaux: Romy Bär 7, Bianca Thomas 11, Alexia Plagnard 4 (5 steals), Sabrina Palie 2, Mistie Williams-Bass 19, Magali Lacroix 15, Jennifer Fleischer 0

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Lattes-Montpellier 75-51 Villeneuve d'Ascq

Lattes-Montpellier: Virginie Bremont DNP, Alicia Poto 3, Iva Perovanovic 4, Cyrielle Hugues 0, Mathilde Roche 0, Ana Lelas 17, Gaëlle Skrela 19, Sandra Dijon-Gérardin 16, Ines Ajanovic 6, Fatimatou Sacko 10

Villeneuve d'Ascq: Carine Paul 6, Ingrid Tanqueray 0, Marjorie Carpréaux 7 (6 assists), Laurie Datchy 8, Emile Gomis 3, Carla Thomas 11, Olayinka Sanni 2, Elodie Bertal 4, Adrijana Knezevic 10

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Union Hainaut Basket-Saint Amand 65-66 USO Mondeville

Union Hainaut: Amanda Jackson 17, Emilie Duvivier 12, Clémence Beikes DNP, Emilie Silbande-Petiteau 2, Noémie Lemaire 0, Céline Girard DNP, Laëtitia Kamba 8, Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton 15 (5 assists), Elsa Martins DNP, Alison Bales 12 (14 rebounds)

USO Mondeville: Touty Gandega 3, Anne-Sophie Pagnier 0, Esther Niamké-Moisan 2, Aija Brumermane 9, K. B. Sharp 16, Lenae Williams 18, Yacine Séné 7, Pauline Thizy 0, Aurélie Bonnan 4, Valeriya Berezhynska 7

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Aix-en-Provence 62-75 Bourges Basket

Aix-en-Provence: Emmanuelle Gorjeu 0, Claire Tomaszewski 5, Zoi Dimitrakou 4, Isabelle Strunc 0, Anaïs Viale 0, Natalie Hurst 23 (5 assists), Sabrina Réghaïssia 7, Carren Gay 6, Hollie Grima 17

Bourges Basket: Anaël Lardy 5, Maja Miljkovic 10, Nwal-Endéné Miyem 11, Styliani Kaltsidou 5, Jennifer Digbeu 7, Catherine Joens 10, Paoline Salagnac 11, Emméline Ndongue 7, Ilona Burgrova 9

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Arras 63-67 Basket Landes

Arras: Leilani Mitchell 11 (6 assists), Laury Aulnette DNP, Krissy Badé 0, Sarah Michel 2, Johanne Gomis 5, Olesia Malashenko 9, Adja Konteh 0, Marielle Amant 18, Aija Putnina 0, Pauline Akonga N’Simbo 18

Basket Landes: Aminata Konate 3, Katarina Manic 17, Bineta Diouf 8, Anaïs Le Gluher, Julie Barennes 10, Tamera Young 6 (11 rebounds), Marion Laborde 17, Laurie Lapeyre DNP, Jennifer Humphrey 6 (10 rebounds)

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LFB basketball news picture credits:

LFB
womensbasketball-in-france.com

Date created: 26 March 2011
Date updated: 27 March 2011

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