Māris Noviks
- Oct 29, 2022

Wynn-Pollard scores 41 to complete a glorious comeback for Levharti Chomutov

Photos: Nikola Krawczyk

Najai Wynn-Pollard set a new European Women`s Basketball league scoring record and led Levharti Chomutov to an epic comeback win against Neptūnas Klaipeda 88-79 on Saturday, October 29, at the Centrum Sportu Wilanow in Warsaw, Poland. Katerina Bartonova had 17 assists.

Players of the game

Najai Wynn-Pollard (Delaware State 2019) was omnipresent and solid as rock for the Czech team.

American forward scored 41 points on 13-of-24 shooting from the field, setting a new EWBL scoring record – highligted by her team`s first win in the competition.

Previous record was set on February 26, 2018, by American guard Tiffany Brown (Georgia South 2008).

Udominate point guard led her team to a 95-90 win over Swedish rivals Lulea Basket to book a ticket to the 2018 EWBL Final Four.

Brown currently plays for Uppsala Basket, sharing the ball with a former Neptūnas guard Savannah Plentovich.

Pollard scored 24 of her 41 points in the second half, including a record breaking three pointer with three seconds left.

She added a team high 12 rebounds and forced 10 fouls for a season high efficiency rating of 41.

Katerina Bartonova set another EWBL record, dishing out an all time high 17 assists.

The Czech Olympian (London 2012) scored three points, stole the ball four times and posted an efficiency rating of 22.

Valentyna Kadlečova and Monika Fučikova scored 11 and 10 points respectively.

Viktoria Balaban led Neptūnas with 24 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field.

Ukrainian guard scored back-to-back-to-back three pointers in a span of 90 seconds.

Ligita Tamutyte had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for a team high efficiency rating of 29.

She forced 10 fouls too.

Linda Ndoli scored nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Uliana Datsko had 12 points.

Key stats

Neptūnas players made eight three point shots in the first 19 minutes but went 3-of-16 the rest of the way.

Klaipeda led by as much as 17 points midway the second quarter 23-40.

Pollard and Kadlečova stepped up to combine for 14 points in the second quarter.

Bartonova had zero points and nine assists in the first half.

A crucial point in the game came with 03:27 left in the fourth quarter when Neptūnas coach Martynas Airošius and Agne Černeckyte received two tehcnical fouls.

Bartonova missed the first attempt but her second free throw tied the game at 70.

Pollard grabbed an offensive rebound in the next possession for a go-ahead basket 72-70.

Tamutyte tied the game one more time 72-72 but Levharti finished the game with a 16-7 run.