Women’s professional basketball team Bucheon Hana OneQ clinched fourth place in the regular season and qualified for the playoffs for the first time in its history.
The Hana OneQ won 71-67 at home against Busan BNK in the Woori Bank WON 2023-2024 Women’s Professional Basketball League regular season at Sajik Indoor Gymnasium in Busan on Feb. 22.
With the win, Hana OneQ, which snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 10-18 on the season, extended its lead over fifth-place Incheon Shinhan Bank (7-20) to 2.5 games and 현금홀덤사이트 clinched fourth place in the regular season, securing a spot in the four-team playoffs.
Hana OneQ will face regular-season champion Cheongju KB KB in the best-of-four playoffs, which begin on March 9.
This is the first time Hana OneQ has advanced to the playoffs since its inception in 2012.
In the 2015-2016 season, Hana OneQ finished second in the regular season and runner-up in the championship, but their results were removed due to the Chelsea Lee incident. Chelsea Lee played in Korea as a mixed-race player, claiming her grandmother was Korean, but was found to have falsified documents during the special naturalization process.
In the 2019-2020 season, the team finished third in the regular season and had hopes of qualifying for the playoffs, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the league to end early and the playoffs to be canceled.
Hana OneQ finished last in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons.
BNK, which defeated Shinhan Bank on Nov. 17 to end a 13-game losing streak, was unable to continue its winning streak. They are in last place with 5 wins and 23 losses.
After finishing the first quarter 26-17, Hana OneQ took a 31-19 lead at the start of the second quarter thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Shin Ji-hyun and Kim Sion. At the end of the first quarter, HanaWonQ went into halftime with a 44-32 lead, thanks to three-pointers from Shin and Kim.
Hana OneQ continued to maintain a 10-point lead in the third quarter.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Hana OneQ went cold on offense, but Kim Jong-kyun’s three-pointers and mid-range shots revitalized the team.
Hana OneQ closed out the third quarter with a 60-44 lead, but BNK pulled away in the fourth quarter.
After Ahn Hye-ji hit a three-pointer and Jin-an scored four straight points to keep the momentum going, BNK pulled within 60-63 midway through the fourth quarter when Kim Jong-un nailed a three-pointer.
Back-to-back baskets by Kim Jong-un and Kim Sion pushed Hana One Q back to 69-62, but BNK cut the deficit to 67-69 on a three-pointer by Ahn Hye-ji with 2:16 left in the game.
However, Hana OneQ took a breather as BNK failed to capitalize on back-to-back turnovers. With two seconds left in the game, Kim Sion sank both free throws after being fouled by her opponent to seal the victory.
Hana OneQ’s Shin Ji-hyun led the way with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Kim Sion added 17 points and eight assists, while Yang In-young chipped in with 16 points and seven rebounds.
For BNK, Ahn Hye-ji had 21 points and eight assists, while Jin An added 14 points and seven rebounds.