Despite a big scare and a defeat at home against Charnay, the BLMA qualifies for the semi-finals of the Women's League

Jenkins and the Gazelles have lost but continue on their way. Midi Libre – Michael Esdourrubailh

The Gazelles lost this Tuesday, April 23, against Charnay (64-75) but still qualified for the semi-finals of the Women's League.

We had to not lose by more than 15 points and the BLMA achieved this not without difficulty, despite a stratospheric Élodie Naigre (26 points).

In a match where the defenses of the two teams took the upper hand over the attacks, the BLMA had a big scare by being trailed throughout the second period to finally recover. bow to Charnay (64-75)

On returning from the locker room, the Saône-et-Loire club put enormous pressure on the Héraultaises by finding address outside (36- 44, 28th). The BLMA remained in the match thanks to the awakening of Garance Rabot and his five consecutive points (41-46, 29th).

Yet in the first act, the two teams were clumsy in construction (12 balls lost for BLMA) and in finishing (34.8% shooting for Charnay), undoubtedly due to the pressure of qualifying for the semi-final.

Villeneuve d’Ascq in the semi-final ?

At the start of the match, however, BLMA had gotten off to a better start than Charnay thanks to the contribution of Alston and Naigre.< /p>

The Guadeloupean was even on fire in the first half against her former coach Stéphane Leite. With 16 points out of her team's 29 in the first act, Elodie Naigre took Lattes-Montpellier towards the semi-finals.

From the second quarter, Charnay was more comfortable and came back level with the Gazelles. Carried in the racket by Thomas (16 pts) and led by Akoa Makani (22 pts), the promoted player even went ahead in the middle of this period (20-21, 16th).

The moment chosen by Berniès to score a 3 point and allow BLMA to stay in front at half-time (29-25, 20th).

Much more in difficulty in difficulty in the second half, the BLMA will nevertheless see the semi-finals of the play-offs, on May 2, perhaps against the recent finalist of the Euroleague, Villeneuve d’ Ascq. "We must congratulate the Charnay team, their game plan caused us a lot of problems. Now, we are in the place of the outsider" summed up assistant coach Ahmed Mbombo Njoya.

The technical sheet

FT

BLMA: 64

Bourges: 75

Sports Palace (Lattes).

Quarter time: 14-11, 15-14, 14-23, 21-27.

Referees: Roux, Bayot, Bissuel.

BLMA : 22 successful shots out of 46, 17 successful free throws out of 22, 29 rebounds, 18 decisive passes, 4 interceptions, 1 block, 17 fouls, 20 lost balls.

Naigre (26 pts), Alston (15), Jenkins (5), Rabot (9), Touré (4), Berniès (5), Zemoura, Djoko, Brun, Caetano.

Charnay: 25 successful shots out of 51, 19 successful free throws out of 21, 24 rebounds, 24 decisive passes, 10 interceptions, 1 block, 26 fouls, 15 lost balls.

Traylor (5 pts), Akoa Makani (22), Abdi (2), Thomas (16), Chabrier (2), Djaldi-Tabdi (12), Vilka (4), Balayera (12) , Kiavi, Muzet.