Super Cup: Kriva Palanka win first title with a second-quarter surge against Basket Kam

Kriva Palanka won the women's Dragan Vasilov-Cevka Super Cup for the first time in the club's history on Saturday, beating Basket Kam 63-51 in front of their home crowd in the Branitelji 2001 hall. The league champions from last season had never held the trophy, and Basket Kam, who had dominated the competition, were the ones to lose out.
The game was decided in the second quarter. Kriva Palanka led only 15-14 after the first quarter, then outscored Basket Kam 22-9 in the second to lead 37-23 at halftime. They played well at both ends in that spell, shooting better and defending firmly, and it left Basket Kam in a difficult position.
Basket Kam had one real response. They began the second half with a 6-1 run that cut the deficit to single figures, 38-29, and after a three-pointer from Pop-Dimitrovska in the 26th minute they were only five points behind, 43-38. For a moment the game seemed open again, but Kriva Palanka answered, regained control and went back to a double-figure lead by the end of the third quarter. Glorija Gruevska (173-SG-2009) reached double figures in that spell. In the fourth quarter the visitors could not mount another charge, and both teams relied heavily on their starters.
The champions' new American pair led the way. Tanyia Gordon (178-F-2001, college: Lander) had 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Marisa Lee (185-F, college: S.Connecticut) had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, with two assists. Gruevska scored 14 points. For Basket Kam, from Makedonska Kamenica, Sanja Adamovska (168-PG-1998) scored 21 points and took nine rebounds, and Marija Miteva (1998), a newcomer to the team, scored 14 points.