T71 Dudelange won the opening W-Enovos League qualifier at Basket Esch, 84-61, and is 1st after round 1, while Esch is 4th.
For two quarters, Vincent Gevrey's team had the game under control. Basket Esch led 25-17 after the first period and extended the margin to 49-36 at halftime. The home side had already opened with a 13-2 stretch. Tatsiana Likhtarovich (38, 1.80m, BLR) drove that phase with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, on good shooting: 2/2 free throws, 6/10 from 2-point range and 2/4 from 3-point range. Jovana Jaksic (34, 1.77m) added 13 points before foul trouble took her out of the game.
The game turned completely after the break. T71 started the third quarter with a 13-0 run to level the score, and Lauren Van Kleunen (28, 1.88m, USA) was on a roll in that sequence, scoring 10 points. Dudelange then kept the pressure on, won the quarter 26-5 and moved from 54-55 to 62-54 with 7 unanswered points late in the period.
Tom Schumacher's team stayed in command in the fourth quarter, winning it 22-7 and closing the game on a 10-0 run. Catherine Mreches (26, 1.65m) was the MVP with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, with excellent free-throw shooting (6/6) and good efficiency from both 2-point range (5/9) and 3-point range (3/6). Shalonda Winton (35, 1.80m, USA) added a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Van Kleunen finished with 15 points and 5 assists.
T71 made the difference with good 2-point shooting (23/44, 52%), a 39-30 rebounding edge, 18 assists and only 11 turnovers. Esch was good at the line (10/12, 83%), but the second half brought only 12 points.
(AI generated)