This season, Çukurova Basketbol Mersin twice was beaten by ZVVZ USK Praha in the group phase and, despite homecourt advantage for the Turkish club, the Czech champs again emerged victorious, 95-67.
The opening, though, gave us two deflated teams, with players missing shots and committing turnovers, unable to focus on the game at hand. A combined six makes on 19 attempts in the first five minutes didn’t necessarily scream efficiency. Praha was the better of the two teams and was soon up by 10 points, 16-6. That’s when Mersin started picking up the pace and twice cut the lead in half, only for Praha to fight back and keep them at bay. Praha finished the first quarter up 27-18, with Mersin shooting 29 percent from the floor and no player having more than four points. As for Praha, they were again led by Valériane Ayayi, who had eight points in the first 10 minutes and would finish the game with 21 points.
In the second quarter, Kahleah Copper put Mersin on her back, making consecutive layups. And while Praha’s lead reached 15 points at one point, Mersin cut it down to 10, and for most of the contest that seemed to be the distance separating both teams. But with their shooting at around 32 percent, there was little chance for Mersin to bounce back, especially with…
