Krim Mercator Ljubljana, who are fighting for a DELO EHF Champions League play-off spot, have returned to sixth position in group B. On home court, the Slovenian team had the upper hand against eighth-placed Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK and won 36:28.
GROUP B
Krim Mercator Ljubljana (SLO) vs Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK (TUR) 36:28 (18:10)
- thanks to Katarina Krpez-Slezak's impact in attack, Krim took control of the match early on. And after Kastamonu slashed the gap to 6:5, the hosts enjoyed a 4:0 run to pull clear
- Barbara Arenhart had a 44 per cent save efficiency in the first half, powering Krim to an impressive eight-goal lead at half-time
- following a 5:0 run, Krim led 29:18 with 11 minutes to go, and they easily cruised to their third win in the group
- Montenegrins Jovanka Radicevic and Milena Raicevic stood out in Kastamonu's attack, netting seven and six times respectively
- Krim now have seven points, one more than seventh-placed IK Sävehof, while Kastamonu lost their 12th straight encounter
Krpez-Slezak makes big impact
Right wing Katarina Krpez-Slezak, who had a tally of 35 goals in the current competition before this game, produced an excellent performance, scoring 13 of Krim's 36 goals.
The 33-year-old Serbian netted both from open play and the seven-metre line. She scored nine goals in the first half and added four more after the restart, helping the Slovenian side to hit the 30-goal mark for the first time this season.
I am really happy with my play today, but I am more happy that my team played for me. We played as a team and we played very well from the beginning. Last 15 minutes, as the coach said, (we) lost a little bit of concentration, but the most important thing is that we won
We knew that this game was going to be hard for us. The first half finished with eight goals difference for Krim. In the second half, we tried to fight – but it was really hard. We played 11 matches and we lost 11 matches. This today is our 12th loss, so we tried to change our play, but we could not succeed.
