Three dry runs and a record. The Bourges basketball players have won a 15e title of champions of France against Villeurbanne in the final of the Women’s League. After winning the first two games in their Prado room, 76 to 66 and 78 to 62, Olivier Lafargue’s players this time beat Asvel (59-53), Saturday June 4, on the Lyon floor of Mado -Cap.
Four years after its last national crown, leaving the honors to Asvel and Basket Landes, Tango concludes in the most beautiful way a season dominated from start to finish, recording only two defeats.
In April, the Berruyères had already offered themselves the Eurocoupe – antechamber of the Euroleague which they will play next season – at the expense of Reyer Venise Mestre. Only the Coupe de France escaped them: beaten in the final by Basket Landes.
Twenty-five consecutive successes in their room
In the French championship, the Tango only trembled twice: in the quarter-finals and in the semi-finals, respectively against Lattes-Montpellier and Basket Landes, the two finalists of last season, pushed to the decisive match 3.
But, thanks to their remarkable regular season, Elodie Godin’s teammates had the home field advantage joker in the final phase, they who have not lost at home since October 16, 2021 and have chained twenty-five consecutive successes in their gym – in all competitions.
Against Asvel, a new arrival on the tricolor women’s scene after the club was taken over in the summer of 2017 by Tony Parker, they did not even need to activate this “insurance” and completed the final series on a “sweep” (without losing a game).
The third match, this Saturday in Lyon, will have been the most hooked. The two teams were tied at the break (28-28), after a messy half-time. The impact of Isabelle Yacoubou in the racket, coming off the bench, allowed the Berruyères to stay in contact with the Rhodaniennes in the second quarter, lost 12 to 6.
It took until the end of the third quarter for the game to change, when an award-winning shot from Keisha Hampton after two ball losses from Asvel players allowed Tango to regain the advantage (43-41) .
Iliana Rupert, player of the season
If she did not weigh during the meeting (six points), Iliana Rupert was, at only 20 years old, the key player of the season. Designated MVP (“most valuable player”, best player) of the Women’s League and Final 4 of the Eurocup, she scored 25 points in the final against Venice.
Twice European vice-champion (2019 and 2021) and Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo with the French team, she will announce in the coming days whether she is continuing the adventure with Tango or whether she is embarking on foreign.
Asvel side, Marine Johannès, also one of the basic players of the France team, crossed the match like a shadow, scoring only three points on five shots attempted. For his club, whose recruitment announced in the specialized media could be prestigious, qualification for the Euroleague looks uncertain.
The only possibility: France could recover one of the places granted to Russia if the exclusion of the country’s clubs, decided after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, is maintained for next season. The Lyonnaises of Pierre Vincent should then go through a tough qualifying round.
