T71 Dudelange opened the W-Enovos League finals with a clear 107-72 home win over AB Contern and leads the best-of-five series 1-0. It was also T71's fourth win over Contern this season, and Tom Schumacher's team is now on an eight-game winning streak.
The start was competitive. Contern moved 9-4 ahead behind back-to-back threes from Ana Petrova (Season PPG: 11.09, RPG: 6.62, AssPG: 3.27) and an early three from Stefanie Grace Kulesza (Season PPG: 20.23, RPG: 10.08, AssPG: 2.88). T71 settled through Lauren Anne Van Kleunen, the 27-year-old 1.88m USA forward/center, and Shalonda Renae Winton (Season PPG: 19.43, RPG: 9.56, AssPG: 5.52). After 22-22, Winton scored 5 points in a row to close the first quarter at 27-22.
Contern briefly regained the lead at 35-34 in the second period, but that was the key turning point. T71 answered with a 26-7 finish to the half for 60-42. Catherine Mreches (Season PPG: 15.45, RPG: 4.64, AssPG: 2.93) drove that sequence with a major scoring burst, while Van Kleunen and Winton kept the pressure on.
The third quarter broke the game open. T71 stretched the margin from 60-42 to 83-53, with Winton hitting consecutive threes and Svenia Nurenberg (Season PPG: 14.05, RPG: 5.40, AssPG: 2.08) adding efficient support. The highest lead reached 40 points at 107-67.
T71's shooting was decisive: an excellent 95% on free throws (19/20) and an excellent 51.6% from three (16/31), plus 20 assists. Van Kleunen finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and the MVP award; Winton had 26 points and 7 assists; Mreches added 19. For Fabienne Fuger's side, Kulesza produced 25 points and 8 rebounds despite foul trouble, while the 44-year-old Bulgarian Petrova scored 11 and opened the game well.
(AI generated)