Thanks to this victory six days after a first success in Mont-de-Marsan (70-66), the northern players won the second national title in their history after that acquired in 2017, concluding a historic season during which they reached the Euroleague final.
First in the regular season, undefeated in the final phase, the first French team to reach the final of the most prestigious European club competition for twenty years… the Guerrières were close to perfection, winning almost every battle.
This title of French champion therefore seems amply deserved for Villeneuve-d’Ascq, a year after failing in the final against Asvel.
It also symbolizes the irresistible rise of coach Rachid Meziane, winner of the Women’s Euro with Belgium in 2023 in parallel with his adventure in the suburbs of Lille, after being pushed towards the exit in 2021 when he was assistant coach of the French women’s team.
“The planets are aligned,” the 44-year-old joked after the match. I can only enjoy what happens to me without forgetting where I come from. It’s a consecration.”
Meziane also expressed his “pride”. “We have been the most consistent team on the national and international stages,” he stressed. We grew up with this team, it’s the accomplishment of those seasons.”
There was no war on Friday evening at the Palacium. From the start of the match, Villeneuve-d’Ascq took an ultimately crippling advantage, inflicting a 14-0 on his opponent.
Stronger, better in execution and skill, the Meziane players first insisted in the Montoises racket thanks to their interior Kariata Diaby, who scored the first four points of the match.
But this was only the beginning of the northern demonstration. In attack, the Guerrières displayed a complete range: perfectly executed systems, individual talent when the opposing defense gained intensity, three-point shots, foul shots…
“We were completely out of control, overwhelmed by the challenge,” commented Basket Landes coach Julie Barennes, who still noted the “success” of her club, finalist of the Coupe de France and the Women’s League.
In front of its lively audience, Villeneuve-d’Ascq continued to widen the gap: 35-18 at the end of the first quarter, 64-41 at half-time, 94-59 at the end of the third quarter, and finally 114-88.
After the first close match of this final, the players led by captain Caroline Hériaud concluded their season in apotheosis by beating their points record, established at 106 during a victory against Angers in February, at the same time inflicting on the Montoises their heaviest defeat of the 2023-2024 financial year.
In this feast, the major players of the northern squad took the light: Shavonte Zellous (24 points), Kamiah Smalls (24 points), Kariata Diaby (20 points) and Hériaud (16 points), while the hope of the French basketball Janelle Salaün (22 years old) remained relatively behind (12 points).
This victory guarantees ESBVA a place in the Euroleague next season. But its squad risks being cut from several of its best elements: Salaün, Diaby and the Americans Zellous and Smalls in particular.
Before then, this golden group will have tasted the divine, saying goodbye to the Palacium in ecstasy.
