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| Heo Ye-eun / Photo: WKBL |
Cheongju KB Stars are one victory away from securing the overall championship after a gritty 59-51 win over Yongin Samsung Life in Game 2 of the BNK Financial 2025–26 Women’s Pro Basketball finals (best-of-five) at Cheongju Gymnasium on April 24.
The KB Stars, who also took Game 1, moved closer to their third overall title following championships in 2018–19 and 2021–22. Historically, every team that has started the finals with back-to-back wins in Games 1 and 2 has gone on to hoist the trophy.
Park Ji-su missed both Game 1 and Game 2, but KB received a strong showing from Heo Ye-eun (18 points), Kang I-seul (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Sakai Sara (9 points, 10 rebounds).
Samsung Life got efforts from Bae Hye-yoon (16 points, 7 rebounds), Lee Hae-ran (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Kang Yoo-rim (12 points, 11 rebounds), but they couldn’t overcome KB’s defense.
The game was tight through halftime, with KB trailing 28-29. Early in the third quarter, Song Yoon-ha’s three tied it at 31-31, and the teams traded baskets in a physical, back-and-forth stretch.
KB gradually wrested control. Free throws from Kang and Heo, plus an outside bucket by Yang Ji-su, pushed the Stars ahead 45-41 heading into the fourth.
In the final quarter, Kang, Heo and Sakai shared the scoring load to protect the lead. Samsung Life hunted for a late rally, but with 41 seconds left Kang scored in the paint to extend the lead to eight and effectively seal the game. The final score was 59-51 in favor of the KB Stars.
By Lee Sang-pil, Sports Today sports@stoo.com
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