League leader Basket Esch, now 1st in the Phase finale and up two places, controlled this game from the second quarter onward and beat 6th-placed Sparta Bertrange 98-35. It was the fourth meeting of the season between the teams, and Esch again had the upper hand.
The opening quarter was still competitive. Sparta led 2-0 and stayed close through Hanna Rotink (Season PPG: 15.93), who carried the home offense early. Esch closed the first period ahead only 19-14, with Lana Clausi (Season PPG: 15.93), Ajla Adrovic (Season PPG: 14.92) and Estelle Birnbaum (Season PPG: 17.08) already active.
The game turned sharply in the second quarter. Karim Elbaoune's team opened with a 14-0 run, moving from 19-14 to 33-14, and Sparta never recovered from that break in rhythm. Anaïs Gocel, the 16-year-old French player (Season PPG: 17.00), scored 7 points in that quarter, while Birnbaum and Ferron stretched the gap further to 53-22 at halftime.
After the break, Sparta briefly scored 4 straight points through Rotink, but Esch answered with a 15-0 burst from 58-26 to 73-26. Clausi was on a roll there, scoring 9 consecutive points for the visitors. In the fourth quarter, Esch added another 15-0 run, from 81-32 to 96-32, pushing the lead to its highest level at 63 points.
Clausi finished with 24 points, Adrovic and Birnbaum had 19 each, and Gocel added 16. Ferron contributed 9. For Patrick Roilgen's side, Rotink scored 20 of Sparta's 35 points, while captain Lilly Engels, 16, added 10 but fouled out after being in foul trouble throughout the game.
(AI generated)