Perfumerías Avenida extends its dynasty with the conquest of its tenth Copa de la Reina

Perfumerías Avenida is a machine to compete, and to win.

The Salamanca team, the most successful team in Spanish women's basketball, extended its dynasty with the conquest of its tenth Copa de la Reina after defeating the persevering Uni Girona (74-69) at La Fonteta, who proudly rushed the surrender to the line of goal.

Silvia Dominguez, the

of the final with 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, raised the 28th trophy in the history of Avenida to the sky of Valencia (opening the way in the encyclopedia before the 16 achieved by Dorna Godella/Pool (1991-98) and the 22 del Ros Casares (2001-2012).“It is very important for the club, for all the years that it has been betting on this project”, said the exhausted captain of the charro team and the Spanish team, who equaled the five crowns of Laia Palau as the active players with the most trophies and ended up beaten by her teammates.

A week after colliding in the Euroleague quarterfinal tie, Avenida and Girona resumed their classic pulse in Valencia.

After facing each other in a direct duel in five of the last six League finals and in five of the last six Cup finals, Perfumerías endorsed its hegemony.

Seven days ago, the team from Salamanca sealed qualification for the Final Four against Uni for the second consecutive season and, this Sunday, they managed to reconquer a competition that they lost last year after falling in the semifinals against Uni (two League, one Copa and two Super Cups in his record).

Final statistics.

Perfumeries Avenida, 74-Uni Girona, 69.

Since the 2004-2005 season when Perfumerías Avenida won its first Copa de la Reina —the first national title of its record, achieved after defeating Zaragoza in the final played in Valencia, with Nuria Martínez as

—, the Salamanca team has only missed the final of the tournament three times, with 10 titles and four runners-up in 17 years.

The Würzburg showcase has not stopped growing since then.

The following year the first Charra League (2006) arrived to consolidate a route that has become an ode to competitiveness, in which Perfumerías has played 47 of the 62 possible finals in national competition (the last 16 in the league consecutive) in the last 20 years and has already won 28 titles (7 Leagues, 10 Queen's Cups, 9 Spanish Super Cups, and the continental double, Euroleague and European Super Cup in 2011).

In Valencia, Avenida regained the throne and reached the tenth crown after an intense and fast-paced duel from start to finish that had a spectacular staging at La Fonteta.

With the double rudder of Silvia Domínguez and Maite Cazorla driving Perfumerías and the hammer of Julia Reisingerova propping up Girona.

The Czech center beat Emese Hof in the first dances in the paint (with 9 points in less than seven minutes) and the Catalan team took control of the rebound thanks to the reinforcement of Rebeka Gardner.

But the step forward of Leo Rodríguez and the show of leadership of Silvia Domínguez quickly tempered the Avenida.

The captain of the Spanish team gave an intensive course in human resource management in big games and signed 12 points,

Michaela Onyenwere was responsible for re-engaging Girona with 12 points in the second quarter and, as the minutes went by, the defenses eroded some hitherto effervescent attacks.

She shot a few threes on Avenida (1 of 3 at the break) and a lot but with little success on Uni (4 of 13 in the first half).

And the operations moved next to the hoops.

There she marked the Kahleah Copper difference based on explosive penetrations.

Nine points from the WNBA champion and Finals

with Chicago Sky allowed Perfumerías to reach intermission with a small piggy bank numerically but psychologically valuable (43-39, m. 20).

MORE INFORMATION

Perfumerías Avenida and the long journey of Spanish women's basketball

The tension and decibels rose after the break and, after a triple by Silvia Domínguez, came the third foul by Kahleah Copper and a technical foul by Roberto Íñiguez for protesting the decision.

Girona took advantage of the circumstance to settle accounts, but the Avenida retained the initiative thanks to the struggle of Emese Hof and the fiber of Copper, fundamental in the key moment of the final.

The tight Salamanca rotation did not find immediate oxygen in Karlie Samuelson or María Fasoula as in the semifinals, and neither did Adaora Elonu, so Uni was able to concentrate efforts on defense.

Laia Flores joined the cause and stopped the first attempts to take a run from Perfumerías.

However, despite that, without the points from Magali Mendy and Rebeka Gardner and without a reel for María Araujo,

There emerged the figure of Karlie Samuelson to stretch the difference of the Avenue based on experience and class just before entering the finish line (65-52, m. 30).

Like a perfect gear, focused and constant, Perfumerías scored 22 points in the first quarter, 21 in the second, and another 22 in the third (only 9 in the last).

Meanwhile, Girona was fading in attack and suffering to stretch the fight.

In the Salamanca team, Maite Cazorla assumed the leadership and management of an income (65-52).

A sequence that was interrupted by Frida Eldebrink with a triple that relieved Girona's poor statistics from the perimeter (5 of 23 at that moment, 8 of 32 at the end) and opened a silver lining for her team.

The blur of the Catalan team collided with a rocky Avenida.

But the attack from Salamanca stalled at 67-52 in the 30th minute and the defense had to maintain the accumulated advantage.

Girona tried the final charge adding points dribbles and Laia Palau finished off a laborious partial 2-9 armed for seven minutes (69-61, m. 37).

Between Onyenwere and Eldebrink they reopened the intrigue in La Fonteta (69-66, m. 38).

Karlie Samuelson scored to shake the fear of his team and Burke hit another triple (71-69).

But, after the frenzy between the resistance and the comeback, the glory was from Salamanca.

's anthem

sounded at the Fonteta to open the Avenida dance, a machine to compete, and to win.

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