KOR - S-Birds romp into finals; Bichumi pull one back
SEOUL (WKBL) - Defending champions Shinhan Bank S-Birds completed a 3-0 rout of Shinsegae Cool Cat on Sunday to book their place in the WKBL Finals, while Samsung Life Bichumi kept their hopes very much alive by winning Game 2 of their semi-finals against KDB Life Winnus.
Shinhan Bank S-Birds prevailed 68-60 on Friday and followed that up with a 70-57 win on Sunday to take an unassailable lead in their best-of-five-games semi-finals series. They had won 101-82 in Game 1 earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, Bichumi - who were edged out 68-67 in Game 1 - bounced back with gumption winning 75-60 on Sunday.
Game 3 between Bichumi and Winnus will be on Monday with Game 4 on Wednesday. If necessary, a deciding Game 5 is set for Friday.
The best-of-five WKBL Finals will be played from March 28.
All round Choe dazzles
Choe Yun-ah (pictured)’s all round brilliance in Games 2 and 3 was the highlight of S-Birds’ sweep to reach the Finals.
On Friday, she had 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as her team took a firm grip on the game early and cruised along.
Kang Young-sook led the S-Birds’ scoring with 17 points, with Kim Dan-bi accounted for 15.
Kim Jung-eun’s game-high 18 points went in vain for the Cool Cat.
On Sunday, Choe was back in her elements, this time scoring a dozen points, handing out eight assists and pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out 8 as the defending champions turned overcame a slow start.
Down 15-14 to end of first quarter, the reigning champions took over with a 16-10 second period and consolidated their grip on the game further with a 23-17 scoring advantage in the third.
Giant center Ha Eun-joo’s paced the S-Birds with 16 points.
Kim Kwe-Ryong had 16 points and 10 rebounds in Coot Cat's losing cause.
Hwa shines for Bichumi
Yi Seon Hwa was the star as Bichumi brought parity to the second semi-final series.
Hwa scored 18 points as Bichumi got off to a good start, leading 14-10 after the first quarter and stretched that to 32-21 at the halftime.
American-Korean Kim Roberson also played a key role in the win finishing with 10 points and 16 rebounds. Lee Mi-sun displayed her versatility with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Winnus were led by Sin Jung-ja who had 16 points and nine rebounds.
