STARLITES REVIVE                       51

CAFFE MOAK LUXOL        62

(24-19, 14-14, 5-13, 8-16)

Caffe Moak Luxol completed their MAPFRE MSV Life women’s Playoff finals sweep after beating Starlites Revive in Game Three on Sunday at the Ta’ Qali Pavilion to seal a 3-0 series victory and lift the league trophy as Malta women’s champions.

It was the club’s first league crown under coach Roderick Vella since taking over from Santino Coppa, and it came at the end of a post-season run in which Luxol grew stronger when the pressure rose.

Both Luxol and Starlites had entered the playoffs as unlikely finalists after Hibernians and Betsson Depiro set the regular-season pace, but the Violets were the sharper side in the league’s decisive stage.

Olivia Wikstrom was the game’s leading figure, finishing with 27 points and 19 rebounds, making this double-double count with the Finals MVP award at the end of the game. Sarah Fenech Pace followed with 15 points as the two were the only players to spend all 40 minutes on court.

Michela Zammit Cordina was Starlites’ offensive leader with 17 points as Makaila Napoleon added 10. Philippa Riolo hit double figures on the boards, finishing with 10 rebounds.

However, it was points that were in strong demand, especially in a lacking second half where they were unable to get into double-digit scoring in any of the two quarters.

Zammit Cordina gave Starlites the start they wanted, driving up to the hoop for the game’s first basket before adding the free throw and then punishing a turnover with a three-pointer for a 6-0 lead.

Luxol’s Wikstrom ended this early run with a three-point play, however, Starlites stayed in command as Julija Dabic began to hit her shots in between Georgia Haverlock freethrows. Sarah Fenech Pace and Wikstrom hit from the line several times but it was a five-point Starlites lead at the first buzzer.

As close as it was, Fenech Pace duo Sarah and Anna brought the game to just a point early in the second quarter as a well-balanced 10 minutes ensued. Both sides had an answer to every attempt but a late Zammit Cordina triple separated the sides again before a late Mikela Riolo freethrow saw the two teams head for halftime at 38-33.

That five-point cushion did not last however, as Luxol opened the third quarter with greater strength. Wikstrom scored twice inside the paint, while Sarah Fenech Pace hit a close-range jumpshot and Lisa Fenech Pace hit from deep to give Luxol their first lead of the game.

Philippa Riolo and Napoleon combined for five points, but that was all they could master throughout the entire quarter as Wikstrom and Lisa Fenech Pace hit again for a three-point advantage ahead of the final quarter.

The fourth followed a similar pattern as Wikstrom continued to fire at will in between further efforts from Vanya Baldacchino, Eve Axisa and Rebecca Fenech Pace. Zammit Cordina hit twice from distance but in another single-digit quarter for Starlites, they could not catch up as Luxol went ahead by 11 points to win this season’s championship.

STARLITES REVIVE M. Riolo 3, C. Cilia 2, P. Riolo 6, M. Zammit Cordina 17, M. Fenech, R. Naudi 2, G. Haverlock 5, M. Napoleon 10, J. Abela, J. Dabic 6.

CAFFE MOAK LUXOL G. Carabott, E. Axisa 8, L. Fenech Pace 5, R. Fenech Pace 2, J. Said, S. Fenech Pace 15, O. Wikstrom 27, V. Baldacchino 2, S. Sciberras, A. Fenech Pace 3.

Referees Z. Dobrosaviljevic, F. Ciurariu, J. Siefert.