T71 Dudelange, second in the W-U16 Division 1 Phase finale standings, beat Sparta Bertrange 73-55 and stayed at 5-1 with no ranking change. Sparta remained sixth at 0-5. It was also T71's fourth win over Sparta this season, and the Dudelange side is now on a four-game winning streak, while Sparta has lost four in a row.
Sparta started the better. Patrick Roilgen's team went 6-0 up and later led 13-3, with Lilly Engels (Season PPG: 10.86) and Hanna Rotink (Season PPG: 15.64) driving that early phase. T71 then changed the game before the end of the first quarter. Yves Marchi's team closed the period on a 13-0 run, flipping a 3-13 deficit into a 16-13 lead.
The second quarter was decisive. T71 won it 31-10 and created the separation with pace and scoring balance. From 30-18, Dudelange produced a 16-0 run to 46-18, and the lead reached 28 points, the largest gap of the game. Matilde Pego Pinto (Season PPG: 11.29) led T71 with 21 points, Katarina Barbic (Season PPG: 11.88), the 14-year-old Croatian, added 14, and captain Marie Beffort Neuman (Season PPG: 10.71) scored 12. Veena Burgund (Season PPG: 8.09) also gave useful support with 7 points.
Sparta responded well after halftime. Rotink scored 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter, Engels finished with 15, and the visitors won that period 17-6 to reduce the margin to 53-40. T71 answered quickly in the fourth, pushing the score to 58-42 and keeping control from there. For Sparta, Quineth Safira Lucy Zaal (Season PPG: 8.15) added 9 points and Anaé Sacaze (Season PPG: 3.90) had 6.
(AI generated)