The all-world forward led Dynamo Kursk to a historic title on Sunday after the Russian side defeated Fenerbahce, 77-63 to win their first ever EuroLeague Women championship.
In the process, Kursk went an unblemished 18-0 in the season, the first squad since Spartak Moscow in 2010 to accomplish the feat.
McCoughtry scored 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting to lead Kursk. She added five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. The Atlanta Dream forward helped erase a double-digit deficit for her squad early in the match.
Fenerbahce opened the game going to Candace Parker in the low post to take advantage of the mismatch against the smaller McCoughtry. The Turkish side didn't have Parker when they lost twice to Kursk in the regular season.
Parker scored six as her team opened the game on a 10-0 run. But McCoughtry was quick to respond, scoring nine straight points to keep Kursk in the game.
Then, Epiphany Prince got involved with her off the dribble game, scoring or assisting nine of 11 Kursk points in one stretch which brought her team ahead, 31-21.
Kursk kept the pressure on, leading by double-digits in the third quarter although Fenerbahce mounted one last try at stealing the game.
A triple by Allie Quigley in the fourth quarter cut the deficit down to just 62-60; however, Fenerbahce got stuck at 60, and allowed Kursk to go on a 15-0 run in the next five minutes. Prince knocked down two threes in that run which pretty much sealed the game for Kursk.
Ogwumike had 19 points and 10 boards while Prince added 18 points, seven assists, and four steals.
Quigley led the runners-up with 19 points. Parker finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and five steals.
In the third-place game, hosts UMMC Ekaterinburg gave their home crowd a little something to be happy about as they fought back to defeat ZVVZ USK Prague, 68-63.
Kristi Toliver topscored with 18 points, including the basket which gave UMMC a 64-63 lead late in the game. She shot 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Emma Meesseman added 16 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the floor.
Sonja Petrovic led Prague with 19 points and seven boards. Candice Dupree had 16 points.
All photos from FIBA.com
All videos from the FIBA YouTube channel
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