Ensino Stages Fourth-Quarter Comeback Against Lackluster Valencia Basket (62-70)

Liga Femenina Endesa matchup between Valencia Basket and Ensino in the penultimate regular season game. Valencia Basket has nothing to play for positionally with third place secured, but a home win at Roig Arena would be valuable playoff preparation. Ensino, meanwhile, depends on itself to climb to sixth place or remain in seventh.

First Quarter
Ensino opened the scoring with a layup from Hadare. Fiebich quickly answered with a three-pointer to put her team ahead. Both Hillsman for Valencia and Giomi for Ensino scored in the paint. Tate put the visitors back in front with a mid-range shot. The first timeout came after a three-pointer from Araujo for a +6 lead for the home team. Back on the court, Giomi scored inside, but Fam quickly answered. A great pass from Leti Romero finished with a basket from Araujo to extend the lead to +7 with 2 minutes left in the quarter. In the final minutes, a three-pointer from Bosch for Ensino and another from Abdelkader for Valencia, combined with free throws, left the first quarter at 20-14.

Second Quarter
The opening stretch was very positive for Ensino, with a 0-7 run following a 2+1 from Haidara, prompting Rubén Burgos to call timeout after the score was tied at 20. However, Leo Fiebich from beyond the arc put Valencia back ahead. A small run by Valencia following a basket from Raquel Carrera and a three-pointer from Ouviña after a steal gave the home team a +6 lead with 5 minutes until halftime. Giomi scored twice, forcing Rubén to use his second timeout as Ensino crept back into the game. A three-pointer from Leti Romero for +8 with 40 seconds left in the quarter prompted a timeout from Luis Garrido before the break (39-31).

Third Quarter
Valencia's Alicia Florez opened the second half with a three-pointer from the top of the arc. However, Anderson answered with a three of his own. Alicia Florez caught fire in the first 4 minutes of the quarter with 8 points and two three-pointers to cut the deficit to just three points, prompting Rubén Burgos to call timeout. Ensino continued to chip away with a layup from Tate. Valencia survived on free throws from Carrera and Fiebich, as their field goal percentage in the third quarter was very low. The final basket of the quarter came from Haidara to leave Valencia ahead 45-50.

Fourth Quarter
Everything was decided in the final quarter, which started with two free throws for Valencia Basket. Tate quickly cut it to two for the Galician team. However, Anderson scored inside and a corner three-pointer from Leti Romero extended Valencia's lead to +10 with 6:30 remaining. The game appeared decided, but Ensino, with a three-pointer from Hadara and a layup from Florez, cut it to just 5 points. Tate's three-pointer brought them even closer, but Hillsman's basket in the paint said no to the comeback. It was Fequiere who hit a three-pointer to give Ensino the lead. With 1 minute and 15 seconds remaining, the difference was 4 points after two free throws from Giomi. Tate had an outstanding game, closing it out with a three-pointer (62-70).