Spanish League: Perfumerias wins fifth Copa de la Reina

This weekend - February 14th-15th - the Copa de la Reina finally took place.  Rivas Ecopolis, the defending cup champion, would host a tournament where Rivas and three of the top teams in the Liga Femenina would compete to see which would be the new champion.

It would turn out to be a great success.  The final was watched by 200,000 people on television and 100,000 watched the game over live stream on the internet.  So enjoy the clips (and commercials) below!

February 14th

Perfumerias 74, Rivas Ecopolis 47

Perfumerias made the first game of the cup a decisive statement as they won every single quarter against Rivas Ecopolis, avenging last season's Copa loss with a 74-47 victory against host Rivas Ecopolis.

Perfumerias won every single quarter and held a 40-22 lead at halftime. They started with a 14-4 lead on the strength of Angel Robinson and Marija Revan's play and Perfumerias later followed it with an 11-0 run.  They put five players in double digits.  Rivas turned the ball over 20 times and Perfumerias had 17 offensive rebounds to just seven from Rivas.

Marija Revan led Perfumerias with 26 points and eight rebounds.  Angel Robinson had 12 points/10 rebounds and Shay Murphy had 11 points/8 rebounds.  Marta Xargay had 4 points/8 rebounds/6 assists.

Rivas's only high point was Lady Comfort with 12 points and 7 rebounds.  Head coach José Ignacio Hernández said that it was only Comfort's play that kept Rivas in the game. Lyndra Weaver had 7 points and four rebounds on 2-for-9 rebounds in 30 minutes of play. He was happy with Rivas's play against a physically superior team.  No other player scored in double digits and only six players scored out of 12 players who saw game minutes for the losing squad.

Conquero 70, Girona 69 (OT)

The real excitement was to come in the second game.  Girona had beaten Perfumerias in both of their regular season matches and a Perfumerias-Girona match for the Copa would have been very interesting.  Conquero, however, had plans of their own.

It was a very intense game with the game tied at 60-60 going into the final minute, and Girona's Brittany Chambers had the final shot that could have won it, but she missed and sent the game into overtime.

Noemi Jordana hit two 3-pointers for Girona to put Girona up 69-62 - but those would be the last points Girona would score.  Maria Pina hit a 3-pointer to close the game to 69-69.  Conquero managed to hit one of two free throws to go up 70-60 with 5.7 seconds left but Noemi Jordana's final shot fell short sending Conquero to its very first Copa final.

Girona head coach Ramon Jordana complained that his club didn't have the budget to get a win.

Ify Ibekwe scored 16 points/16 rebounds for Girona.  Noemi Jordana had 12 points/11 assists and Brittany Chambers had 12 points/7 rebounds.  Vanessa Gidden had 8 points/9 rebounds in the loss.

Four players scored in double figures for Conquero.  Adaora Elonu had 15 points, and Chelsea Davis had 14 points/11 rebounds.  Maria Pina scord 14 points and Aja Parham added 7 points in the win.

Chelsea Davis gave a humorous josh at her opponent on Twitter.

Fightin for that Nigerian food, rice and stew. @ifyibekwe pic.twitter.com/KmtkrwnDO7

— Chelsea Davis (@ChelsDavisFSU) February 15, 2015

February 15

Perfumerias 66, Conquero 62

Perfumerias turned out to be the last team standing as they won the Copa de la Reina in a close victory against playoff contender Conquero on their way to a championship weekend in Madrid.  It is their fifth Copa victory.

Conquero decided to come out with a fast-paced game.  They won the first quarter 18-17 but Angel Robinson helped her team on both ends of the court for Perfumerias to make a 6-0 run in the second.  Chelsea Davis and Angel Robinson helped Conquero fight back and tie it at 27-27.

Perfumerias had a 37-33 lead at halftime, but Conquero started the third quarter with a 6-0 run to take the lead.  Conquero would win the third quarter 20-9 to lead 53-46 with one quarter to go.  If Conquero could keep the lead, the cup would be theirs.

With four minutes left in the game, Perfumerias managed to take the lead 57-56. A basket by Maria Pina late in the game would tie it at 62-62 but Perfumerias would hit its free throws when it needed them.

Angel Robinson would be named MVP of the Copa de la Reina and would score 20 points/11 rebounds in the final game.  Shay Murphy added 12 points/9 rebounds and Marta Fernandez had 11 points.

For Conquero it was Chelsea Davis (15 points) and Adaora Elonu (14 points) leading the way, with seven points added by Aja Parham.  Lucila Pascua had 8 points and 7 rebounds in the loss.

Ignacio Escribano captured the final minute of the game and the ensuing celebration.

Conquero club president José Luis Pena called the game a moral victory for his squad. 

Interestingly, he was asked if Conquero had a shot at a Liga Femenina championship. "Why not?" he said.  "If a few months ago someone had said that Conquero would qualify for the Copa de la Reina we would have thought it was crazy.  If last week you told us that we would play the final we would have thought it was crazy."

As for Angel Robinson, her celebration on Instagram was low key. :D   She did get an interview after the game, and here it is!