On April 11, Beijing time, in the second leg of the 2023-24 Women's European Cup, Besiktas lost to the London Lions 70-81, and the team won the first leg 75-68, losing by a total of 4 points in the two legs, thus regretting not winning the championship. Li Yueru's performance in this game was remarkable, shooting 4 of 9 and 5 of 6 free throws, scoring 13 points and 5 rebounds. Li Yueru left the court with 5 fouls and only played 29 minutes.
Besiktas lost unjustly, with three generals and five fouls leaving the game, and one coach being ejected from the game after eating a technical foul. Besiktas, who won the first leg at home by just seven points, is not safe, after all, the London Lions do have a lot of quality this season, they have brought in three players with WNBA experience, as well as a number of big names in the European league.
Sure enough, in this game, the London Lions launched a ferocious counterattack, and the referee's blowing penalty was in favor of the home team, the London Lions. Besiktas's three big players, Li Yueru, Nokic and Korivasavic, were frequently whistled for fouls, and their playing time was seriously compressed.
Originally, in such a match, Li Yueru and Nokic would both play 35 to 40 minutes, and Korivasavic would play 30 to 35 minutes. Even Li Yueru and Nokic will play the full 40 minutes if necessary.
Besiktas, who had basically relied on six players to play, played eight players in this game, and there was a big gap between the substitutes and the main player. In particular, Li Yueru and Nokic are two of the team's big three. They were plagued by fouls together, and Besiktas's offense was greatly affected. Nokic had nine points and five assists in this game, and she only played 29 minutes. Korivasavic left the pitch with five fouls after only 14 minutes, which is even more outrageous.
There is another reason why Besiktas lost this game, that is, the core Dana Evans is in a very low state, she is 3 of 20 two-pointers, 3 of 11 three-pointers, and 2 of 4 free throws.
Both Evans and Nokic have been criticized for being more unique during the season, and this game, Evans' weaknesses were fully exposed. Obviously, Li Yueru's offense has always been very efficient, but Li Yueru's shots are often only ranked fourth or even fifth in the team.
Li Yueru unfortunately ended the season, Besiktas women's basketball team stopped in the semifinals of the Turkish League, finished runner-up in the Women's European Championship, and unfortunately failed to win a championship. But objectively speaking, Li Yueru's personal performance is outstanding. Li Yueru fought with injuries and protected her knees. She will take a short break before flying to Los Angeles to attend a training camp for the Los Angeles Sparks and continue to fight for her dreams.