Ramla walloped Aluinvent DVTK 80-61 in EuroCup action as they look to punch their ticket to the Round of 16 with one more game on tap in Turkey. Coach Shira Haelion relied on veterans Tiffany Mitchell, Betnijah Laney, Dewanna Bonner, Alex Cohen and Naama Shafir to lead the attack in order to take the 19-point win.

Up next for Ramla will be a date with Orman Genclik on Thursday as they will look to finish in one of the first two places in the group in order to advance to the next stage of the competition. With a win Ramla will clinch a spot but should they lose, the club may have to rely on poems differential to move on.

After a close first half of action which saw Ramla lead 37-34 after twenty minutes thanks to fine play by Betnijah Laney and Naama Shafir, HaElyon’s squad broke open the game in the third quarter as new signing Dewanna Bonner and Tiffany Mitchell led the way to the victory.

Tiffany Mitchell scored a team high 24 points, Betnijah Laney added 20 points and 10 rebounds, Dewanna Bonner scored 16 points and grabbed 8 boards, Naama Shafir notched 11 points while Alex Cohen chipped in with 7 points in the win. Keyona Hayes led Aluinvent with 22 points in the loss.

Tiffany Mitchell spoke to the Sports Rabbi after the game about what led the team to victory, “The key to the win was our defense. We knew if we came in aggressive on defense’ the offense will take care of itself. We were well prepared and scouted them for the game. The point margin is always important because you never know what could happen in other games. It felt great to finally play again. I was tired in the first couple minutes but then I caught my breathe!”

Head coach Shira Haelion was pleased with the performance, but also knows that a bigger challenge lies ahead, “It’s a great feeling to win our first game in Europe, especially against a very good opponent. I am happy that we were able to put our game plan into place on the defensive end. The players deserve a huge amount of credit for following the tactics and battled from the opening minute. On Thursday we will face the favorites on their home court. We’ll have to play even better.”