Women’s professional basketball’s ‘unified champion’ Asan Woori Bank has started the new season with a victory over last season’s championship finalist Busan BNK.

Woori Bank defeated BNK 74-70 in overtime in the official opening home game of the 2023-2024 Woori WON Women’s Professional Basketball League at the Asan Yi Sunshin Gymnasium on the 5th.

Woori Bank, which swept the regular season and championship last season to win its 11th championship and 10th overall title, recorded its first win of the season by scheduling a “return match” against championship opponent BNK.

BNK, which had its best performance since its inception in 2019, including a second place finish in the regular season and runner-up finish in the championship, turned around after losing three straight games to Woori in the championship, but this time it was unable to overcome Woori and suffered its first loss of the season.

In the first quarter, Woori, led by Park Ji-hyun with seven points and four rebounds and Kim Dan-bi with six points, four rebounds and four assists, took a 20-16 lead.

BNK levelled the score at 31-31 with 2:40 left in the second quarter thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Ahn Hye-ji and Lee So-hee, but Woori Bank answered with back-to-back baskets from Yoo Seung-hee and Park Ji-hyun to end the half with a 35-31 lead.

At the end of a back-and-forth third quarter, Woori Bank held a slim 46-44 advantage, but in a seesaw game in the fourth quarter, BNK took control as Woori’s shooting percentage dropped.

Starting with a three-pointer from rookie Kim Jong-un with 5:23 to go, Jin-an and Kim Han-byul scored steadily to make it 61-56 with 2:50 left.

However, a “one-woman show” from Kim Dan-bi brought Woori back into the game at 62-61 with 1:04 to go, and in a tightly contested game, the two teams were unable to tie the score at 64-64 at the end of the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime for the first time this season.

After BNK’s Kim Han-byul fouled out with five fouls in the early stages of the extra period, Woori Bank, which was slowly gaining the upper hand, took a 73-68 lead with 54.3 seconds left when Goara capped off Kim’s 10th assist of the game with a three-pointer to complete her triple-double.

Kim, who joined Woori last season and was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in both the regular season and championship game, continued her ‘ace’ duties with a game-high 32 points to go with 17 rebounds and 10 assists for her eighth career triple-double.

She also added three blocked shots on the night to reach the 500 career blocked shot milestone (501 total). The 500 blocked shots milestone is the second all-time in the WNBA, behind only the retired Lee Jong-ae (862).

Park Ji-hyun recorded a “shared double-double” with Kim Dan-bi with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

For BNK, Jin An led the way with 22 points and 15 rebounds and Ahn Hye-ji had 15 points and 11 assists. 파워볼사이트