The Wizink Center in Madrid dressed up to receive for the first time an official women's basketball match in which Magec Tías Against Gender Violence had the honor of being the visiting team against Movistar Estudiantes.
A total of 13,472 spectators gathered in the pavilion, an absolute record for the highest attendance in Spain and the third in Europe. In sports, the Lanzarote team suffered a large defeat after facing Estudiantes only in the first half.
The match started with a surprise, as Carolina Mateo, who was scheduled to start, could not do so due to an error when giving the initial quintets, with Alejandra Betancort doing so in her place. Aday Villalba seemed to have "surprised" Andrés Ortego, with the Lanzarote team imposing itself at the beginning, making a partial of 2-7 with great success in the outside shot.
Estudiantes is at the top of the standings on its own merits and any oversight against them is costly. Magec Tías gave in on defense and the local team took advantage of this to turn the score around in the middle of the first quarter (15-13), forcing the visiting bench to call a time-out. The defense was intensified, but without fluidity in attack, finally concluding the quarter with a score of 24 to 17.
At the beginning of the second quarter, two local defensive errors allowed the differences to be widened and with this Aday Villalba requested a time-out to redirect the situation, when 1'16'' of this period had been played. The return to the court allowed the island team to regain good sensations and improved again in defense, although it was finding the attack it had at the beginning of the match.
After five minutes of the quarter, the score reflected 37 to 26 and Andrés Ortego took the opportunity to call a time-out and give his team's offensive game a little more tranquility. Before the teams returned to the court, it was announced that the record for attendance at a women's basketball game in Spain had been achieved with 13,472 spectators. After returning to the court, Movistar Estudiantes again devastated the island team, which was left without reaction, reaching halftime with a score of 48 to 30.
Danielle Lawrence's unavailability
The worst news for the Lanzarote team was the absence of its main offensive reference, Danielle Lawrence, who received a blow feeling dizzy, whose place was occupied by Carla Medina. Magec Tías "Against Gender Violence" was not comfortable, forcing Aday Villalba to call a time-out with two minutes played and the score at 59 to 36.
The Kentucky player entered the quintet again, but even so the island team did not recover sensations, which saw how time passed and the points did not reach their score. After 5 minutes, Aday Villalba was forced to call a time-out again, with the aim of redirecting the situation and that points would fall for his locker, stuck at 36 points. In the last minutes of the third quarter it seemed to improve somewhat, but the offensive work was not bearing fruit, the shots were not going in and the triples were halfway there. Despite this, the quarter ended with the score at 69 to 41.
In the last quarter, Magec never lost face in the match and continued fighting until the end. The first points of the Ramiro de Maeztu team came from the free throw line, while the Lanzarote team continued fighting to cut the differences in the score.
As the minutes passed, the feat was becoming more complicated, despite the fact that the differences in the score remained, which was bad news for the Lanzarote team. The match ended with the score at 86 to 55, with the Lanzarote team adding a new defeat and falling to relegation places after the victories of UCAM Murcia and Alhaurín de la Torre.
Visit of Infanta Elena to the Magec Tías dressing room
Despite all this, Magec Tías "Against Gender Violence" closed its participation in the Wizink Center knowing that it had made history in women's basketball and that there is still a lot of league left, with matches with direct rivals.
At the conclusion of the match, an expedition chaired by Infanta Elena de Borbón was in the Magec Tías dressing room, talking and greeting the players of the Lanzarote team. Infanta Elena did not hesitate to take photos with the team, and participate in the shout of "1,2,3, Magec...".
Technical Sheet
Movistar Estudiantes (86): Laura Prats (6), Aitana Cuevas (4), Mariana González (15), Paula Palomares (16) and Brianna Butler (12) -initial quintet- Sheila Mangada (4), Amaya Gastaminza (6), Irene San Román (8), Paula Justel (8), Mónica Alonso (0), Nina Bogicevic (4) and Andrea Alcántara (3). Coach: Andrés Ortego
Magec Tías "Against Gender Violence" (55): Yaiza García (11), Joana Pereira (2), Carolina Mateo (3), Danielle Lawrence (21) and Kathleen Letkewicz (10) -initial quintet- Sara Duarte (2), Alba Rodríguez (0), Carla Medina (3), Alejandra Betancor (3) and Raby Oliveira (0). Coach: Aday Villalba
Partial scores: 24-17, 48-30 (halftime) 69-41, 86-55 (final)
Referees: Guillermo García Martín and Rodrigo Palanca Page. Without eliminated
Incidents: Wizink Center, 13,472 spectators. Match corresponding to the 21st day of group B of the Women's League 2.
