Second-placed BC Mess took a 71-61 away win over third-placed Arantia Larochette B in a game with several momentum shifts.
Arantia started well and led 4-0, but Mess answered with a 16-6 run to close the first quarter in front, 16-10. In the second period, the visitors pushed the margin to 12 points twice, at 22-10 and 26-14. Coach Joao Pedro Osorio Silva then got a strong reaction from the home side: from 22-29, Arantia finished the half on an 11-2 run and turned the score around to 33-31.
BC Mess, coached by Joao Carlos Santiago Janeiro, responded immediately after the break. Hannah Meysembourg (Season PPG: 21.92) and Maéna Barandao-Bakele (Season PPG: 13.54), the 14-year-old French player, led an 11-3 start in the third quarter as Mess moved back ahead 42-36. The visitors won that period 20-11 and carried a 53-44 lead into the last quarter.
Arantia still came back once more, scoring 6 points in a row to trim the gap to 50-53. That was one of the decisive moments, because Mess answered with an 8-0 burst to 61-50. From there, the visitors kept control, with Barandao-Bakele scoring 6 of her team's next 8 points.
Meysembourg finished with a game-high 32 points, while Barandao-Bakele added 19. Together they scored 51 of Mess's 71 points. For Arantia, Yara Mores (Season PPG: 8.93) led with 22 points. Maëly Horta Mascarenhas (Season PPG: 7.17), Sarah Ansay (Season PPG: 7.42) and captain Lilly Agnes (Season PPG: 4.09) each had 8. Mess had already won the first meeting 62-59 and stays second in the standings, with Arantia remaining third.
(AI generated)