Photos: Aija Valtmane
Kate Vilka scored 10 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter to lead TTT Rīga past SBŠ Ostrava 66-59 on Friday, November 11, at the historic Daugava sports hall in Rīga, Latvia.
Players of the game
Kate Vilka (Krēsliņa) played her second game after maternity leave – she stepped on the floor on April 17, 2021 and November 5, 2022.
Shooting guard took over the game during the last five minutes.
Vilka scored eight points in the clutch, including a perfect 2-of-2 from the three point line.
Her last three pointer doubled the TTT lead up to six points 65-59 with 49 seconds to go.
TTT captain finished the game with 21 points, including a 4-of-9 effort from the deep.
Vilka grabbed five rebounds, dished out two steals, blocked one shot and forced four fouls too.
Estere Petrus had a big shooting night.
She missed her first three shots from the three point line but went 5-of-6 the rest of the way.
Petrus scored 19 points and grabbed a team high nine rebounds.
Evergreen Gunta Baško chipped in with 11 points, eight rebounds and a team high three steals.
Forward – transformed to power forward and center – added one blocked shot and the best +/- ratio of 16.
Marta Miščenko had five points, six rebounds and three assists, despite playing the whole second half with four fouls.
Anacia Wilkinson (Tennessee Tech) led SBŠ Ostrava with 20 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
The queen of blocks added one assist, one blocked shot and four forced fouls for a game high efficiency rating of 25.
Megan Mullings had 16 points, six rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot in an all around effort.
Alaska Anchorage standout stole one ball too.
Tereza Motyčakova contributed with seven points and four assists.
Key stats
TTT players stole the ball six times in the first six minutes for a 19-3 lead.
The hosts went for a 13-of-32 from the three point land, compared to 2-of-17 for the Czech team.
SBŠ Ostrava missed all 11 three point attempts in the first 30 minutes.
Iveta Raškova`s team had a big advantage in the paint, though.
Wilkinson, Mullings and Adela Smutna provided a constant threat under the basket.
Ostrava finally grabbed a 47-48 lead with 09:07 to go.
Vilka stepped up to score 10 points in the last nine minutes.
She got help from Petrus and Baško as both added one three pointer each.
Vilka sparked a 5-0 run in the 36th minute to increase the TTT lead up to six points 60-54.
She did the same thing in the final minute to double the hosts lead 65-59.
Game notes
TTT posted the first win of the season after three losses in the Baltic league.
It happened on a memorable day as November 11 is celebrated as the Liberation Day of Rīga during 1918-1920 War of Independence.
Latvia national men`s team qualified for the 2023 FIBA World Cup for the very first time.
Baško and Vilka played at the 2018 Women`s World Cup in Tenerife.
Standings, as of November 11, 2022
SKK Polonia Warszawa 3-0 (+26)
Levharti Chomutov 2-1 (+29)
Neptūnas Klaipeda 1-2 (+1)
Rīga Stradiņš University 0-3 (-56)
TTT Rīga 1-0 (+7)
SBŠ Ostrava 0-1 (-7)
Šiauliai Vilmers 0-0
Frankivsk Prikarpattya 0-0
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