Piešťanské Čajky held Kibirkštis MRU to 18 points in the first half and walked the line rest of the way for a 70-34 success on Saturday, March 19, at the Diplomat arena. The hosts will play for gold on Sunday.
Players of the game
Matea Tadič led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.
Čajky captain grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists for a efficiency rating of 20.
Sarah Boothe had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
Stanford graduate added five rebounds for a tied game high efficiency rating of 22.
Natalia Martiškova posted a double-double.
She had 14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Alica Moravčikova and Ke`Shunan James scored seven points each.
Gerda Raulušaityte replied with 10 points.
She was the lone Vilnius player which finished in double figures.
Justina Miknaite had six points and six rebounds.
Karolina Kazočiūnaite added four points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Key stats
Piešťanské Čajky held Kibirkštis to 11 or less points every quarter.
The Seagulls won the battle of rebounds 42-35 and outscored the Sparks in the paint 48-24.
The Lithuanian Cup winners had a bad day from the three point line, connecting just one from 21 attempts.
Čajky jumped in front for a 23-7 lead early in the game.
The hosts struggled in the second quarter but dominated the rest of the way.
Čajky starters outscored their opponents 59-20.
Gerda Raulušaityte scored five field goals – no other Kibirkštis player made more than two.
Čajky forced 23 turnovers and scored 17 points off turnovers.
Photos: Laco Duracka
Game notes
Both teams played their first Final Four game.
Čajky and Kibirkštis combined for 104 points.
Peter Jankovič advanced to his third EWBL final and will meet his former player Anna Jurčenkova on Sunday.
Kibirkštis departed for Pieštany late Thursday and arrived on Friday.
FINAL FOUR 2022
Saturday, March 19, semifinals
Žabiny Brno – SBŠ Ostrava 82-44
Piešťanské Čajky – Kibirkštis Vilnius 70-34
Sunday, March 20, medal games
13:30 Bronze medal game
16:00 Final
Final Four history
Rīga 2016: TTT Rīga, Basket 90 Gdynia, Astana Tigers, Tsmoki Minsk
Košice 2017: Good Angels Košice, TTT Rīga, Dynamo Moscow, Basket 90 Gdynia
Rīga 2018: Good Angels Košice, TTT Rīga, Dynamo Moscow, Udominate Basket
Rostov on Don 2019: TTT Rīga, Tsmoki Minsk, Rostov Don SFEDU, Žabiny Brno
Brno 2020: season five cancelled due to pandemic (Žabiny Brno-Tsmoki, Novosibirsk-Pieštany)
Maladziechna 2021: Horizont Minsk, Nika Syktyvkar, TTT Rīga, Prometey Kamianske
FORMAT
Playoffs: canceled
A1 – B4, A2 – B3, B2 – A3, B1 – A4
Final Four: March 19-20, 2022
Our geography
EWBL member countries so far: Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Turkey.
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