Gabriele Šulske, Camille Droguet and Karolina Kazočiūnaite scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to help Kibirkštis MRU post a 87-69 win over determined SBŠ Ostrava in the 2022 EWBL bronze medal game on Sunday, March 20, at the Diplomat arena in Pieštany, western Slovakia.
Players of the game
Camille Droguet scored eight of her 16 points in the fourth quarter.
A French player was unstoppable in the offense – she scored at will or forced to foul.
Droguet forced four fouls in the final 10 minutes.
She finished the game with 16 points, four assists and six forced fouls for a game high efficiency rating of 24.
Gabriele Šulske had a team high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Vilnius floor general scored six points in the fourth quarter.
Šulske added five rebounds and six assists to earn a 2022 All Star nomination.
Karolina Kazočiūnaite also scored six points in the fourth quarter enroute to 18 points.
Forward connected 4-of-7 three point shots, including 2-of-2 masterpiece in the final frame.
Kibirkštis captain Livija Sakevičiūte posted 13 points and five rebounds.
Egle Zabotkaite came from the bench and scored six points on 2-of-3 shooting from the three point line.
Josipa Silov led all scorers with 21 points – all in the first 30 minutes.
Ostrava guard kept her team afloat – she made 67 percent of field goal attempts until the third quarter.
Silova connected 4-of-8 three pointers and earned a 2022 EWBL All Star jersey.
Adela Smutna was extremely effective too.
She scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line for a team high efficiency rating of 19.
Sona Svetlikova scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Last, but not least – Stella Tarkovičova jumped in with 10 points.
Key stats
Kibirkštis opened the game with a 25-11 run.
SBŠ Ostrava, thanks to Josipa Silova, fought back and tied the game at 44 with 18:21 minutes left.
Silova received some great help from Smutna and Svetlikova, while Tarkovičova`s three pointer cut the gap to three points 59-56 with 11:24 left.
Droguet stole the ball late in the third quarter for a 61-56 lead.
French guard scored 10 of 25 Kibirkštis points in the last 10:22 minutes.
Šulske and Kazočiūnaite joined Droguet to finish the job, while Silova went scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Kibirkštis starters – Šulske, Droguet, Kazočiūnaite, Miknaite and Sakevičiūte – combined for 70 points.
Four of them finished in double figures.
The Sparks won the battle of rebounds 39-28.
Kibirkštis players made 56 percent of field goal attempts, compared to 45 percent for Ostrava.
SBŠ Ostrava earned more points off turnovers 11-18.
Game notes
Kibirkštis MRU is one of the First Eight EWBL teams.
The Lithuanian team reached its first Final Four in the seventh season and earned its first medal.
Two down, two to go – Gitautas Kievinas team won the Lithuania Queen`s Cup one week ago and has two more cups to take rest of the way.
Kibirkštis added a bronze medal, a cup for the third place and a 1500 EUR prize at the western Slovakia.
Photos: Laco Duracka
SBŠ Ostrava played in its first Final Four at Pieštany and was awarded a 1000EUR prize.
FINAL FOUR 2022
Saturday, March 19, semifinals
Žabiny Brno – SBŠ Ostrava 82-44
Piešťanské Čajky – Kibirkštis Vilnius 70-34
Sunday, March 20, medal games
Kibirkštis MRU Vilnius – SBŠ Ostrava 87-69
Žabiny Brno – Piešťanské Čajky 57-51
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
Pieštany 2022: Žabiny Brno, Piešťanské Čajky, Kibirkštis MRU, SBŠ Ostrava
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.
Follow us on Website: www.ewbl.eu Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EWBL YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/EWBLLive Live TV: http://ewbl.eu/live-tv/
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