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Kommersant: “UMMC outshines all of Russia”
The most decorated women's basketball club in Russia, UMMC, has become even more decorated. On Monday, the team from Yekaterinburg won the third and deciding game of the Russian Championship final series against Nika-Luzales from Syktyvkar with a score of 87:73. For UMMC, this is already the 17th trophy won at the Russian Championship, which is more than all other teams have won in the entire recent history of the country. It is worth noting that throughout the season, Dmitrii Donskov's team won all the trophies within their reach.
On Monday, UMMC once again confirmed its status as the undisputed leader of Russian women's basketball. Under the guidance of Dmitrii Donskov, in the third game of the final series, they confidently defeated Nika-Luzales with a score of 87:73. It seemed that the trip to Syktyvkar would not be so easy for the Yekaterinburg team. However, when evaluating the teams' class, their rosters, season statistics and the one of the final series where UMMC won both games in Yekaterinburg (although the second game could have turned out differently for the Ural team), the chances of the “Foxes” for another title could be considered almost one hundred percent. On the other hand, Nika, which finished only fifth in the regular season, emerged as an extremely tough fighter during the playoffs, knocking out Nadezhda, who finished fourth in the regular season, and even defeating the regular season champion, Dynamo Kursk.
In other words, fans of Nika had every reason to hope that at least once their team would be able to upset the favorite. However, the Nika basketball players were not ready for the pressure they faced with from the start of the game.
It is remarkable that it wasn't about one standout player in the UMMC lineup. Rather, five players finished the game with nine or more points. Among them were Russians - Zhosselina Maiga, Maryia Papova, Anastasia Kosu, and foreign players - Victoria Macaulay, Tina Krajisnik, Alexandria Bentley. The latter became the top-scorer in the squad of UMMC in this game (15 points), but more importantly, she was named the MVP of the entire playoffs after the game. Therefore, the home team was completely puzzled about who to focus on. By halftime, UMMC had pulled ahead by 23 points, effectively sealing the game.
For UMMC, the current title is already the 17th in the club's history. It is interesting that this is one more than all other women's basketball teams have won in recent Russian history (the second-highest number of titles belongs to Dynamo Moscow – they have four). It is also worth noting that UMMC has won all the trophies available to the team. In addition to winning the Russian Championship, the Yekaterinburg team triumphed in the national Super Cup, where they were stronger than Dynamo Kursk, and in the Russian Cup, where they once again left their opponents from Kursk without any awards.
However, it should not be assumed that the season was completely smooth for UMMC. In the regular season, the team finished second, losing out to Dynamo Kursk on additional indicators. Considering that the coaching staff of UMMC had to deal with significant personnel challenges again this season, there is nothing fantastic about the setbacks that the team faced. The most unpleasant situation for UMMC was that their center (both in terms of position and impact on the game), Maria Vadeeva, decided to skip the season due to maternity leave. To replace such a performer quickly and painlessly is extremely challenging.
However, Dmitrii Donskov, once again proving that he is one of the strongest coaches in the country, had previous experience in restructuring on the fly, and it clearly came in handy for him. It's worth noting that he took over the team in 2022 when UMMC (following the events in Ukraine) was suddenly left without a whole host of talented foreign players and their head coach Miguel Mendez. The blow was so severe that in 2022, UMMC lost the title to Dynamo. However, the club owners did not turn away from the “Foxes”; the team reorganized, managed to find replacements for the departed foreign players (which, against the backdrop of numerous sanctions imposed on Russia, was not easy at all), and significantly strengthened the Russian component of the Ural machine. As a result, in the previous season, UMMC reclaimed its usual first place, and this season, they have consolidated their position at the top.
Source: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6679249