Asan Woori Bank guard Park Hye-jin, the most decorated player in the history of the Women’s Korean Basketball League (WKBL) championship game with three Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, put on a performance worthy of her name to lead her team to victory. Woori Bank is just one step away from winning its 12th championship.
Park Hye-jin scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists in 39 minutes and 53 seconds to help her team to a 62-57 victory over Cheongju KB in Game 3 of the Woori WON 2023-24 Women’s Professional Basketball Championship (best-of-five) at the Asan Yi Sunshin Gymnasium on Monday at 7 p.m. The Woori Won won the best-of-five series 2-1. Woori Bank improved to 2-1 in the best-of-five series, shooting 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the field.
The game was dominated by KB until the second quarter. The team put pressure on Woori Bank by playing tight zone defense and hitting three-point shots. Woori Bank was unable to make much of an impact as even their aces, Kim Dan-bi and Park Ji-hyun, were out of shape.
However, Park Hye-jin remained focused even when her team fell behind. Following her accurate mid-range shots in the first quarter and her active rebounding, she scored with Lee Myung-kwan in the second quarter to break the team’s offensive silence.
The best part came in the third quarter. As Woori Bank pulled away with a one-woman show from Kim Dan-bi, Park Hye-jin was on the sidelines to support her. Park Hye-jin scored a basket with 3:31 left in the third quarter to make it a two-point game. Then, with 1:56 left, she took a pass from Park and drained a game-winning three-pointer. KB’s 16-point lead was erased.
KB fought back to tie the game, but Park Hye-jin took a pass from Kim Dan-bi and drained a long-range three-pointer with two seconds left, sending the Asan Yi Sunshin Gymnasium into a roar.
Park Hye-jin contributed with her defense and rebounding in the decisive fourth quarter, and Woori Bank eventually pulled away from KB to win the game.
“I can’t believe we won,” Park said to the media after the victory. We didn’t give up in the first half, but I also thought, ‘It’s not going to work today,'” she confessed, adding, “We talked about raising our energy level in the second half, and I think it led to a good result.” “Honestly, it doesn’t feel real that we won,” he reiterated.
When the press asked her about her long-range three-point shot at the end of the third quarter, which she shared with Kim Dan-bi, Park Hye-jin said, “Actually, I don’t have a bad feeling in practice, but I don’t like it in the stadium, but there was a moment when I hesitated when I had to shoot in the second game. I thought, ‘Today, I’m going to do well whether it’s porridge or rice. Honestly, I felt short on the court, so I had confidence in my long-range shots,” she reflected.
The game went the opposite way from the previous two games. In Game 2, Woori Bank took the early lead, only to collapse in the second half. This time, it was the opposite. “In short games, it’s not easy for a team to win one-sidedly,” Park said. At some point, there is a flow and a crisis. In the second game, we couldn’t handle the flow. Today, we had an early crisis, but I think we overcame it well and won against KB,” she answered like a veteran.
After the match, coach Satellite Woo praised Park Hye-jin for her improved performance. In response to this message, Park Hye-jin said, “This season, I’m playing with the mindset that anything is good as long as I can win, so I hope I can play a role,” but added, “I definitely played better than in the PO. I think I’ve gotten more comfortable shooting from long range. There are two games left, but I’m only thinking about the team winning,” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, their opponent KB watches various motivational videos before the game. Woori Bank is known for the bitterness of its coach, Lee Sat-woo, which fills the court. When asked by the press what the coach said, Park Hye-jin replied, “He told us about a game we lost 0-3 two years ago. We said, ‘Let’s play without regrets,’ but he said, ‘If you lose, you die. “After hearing that, we went in without thinking that we were going to lose. The flow is important in short-term matches, and we will play with confidence to win.”
Park Hye-jin is a superstar guard who anchored the Woori Bank dynasty in the 2010s. This season, she was a late addition to the team due to personal reasons, and injuries have reduced her impact from her peak. However, she has been able to come up with valuable points and rebounds in crunch time and has been a reigning WKBL MVP. With Park as their newest wing, Wooribank can lift their 12th championship trophy if they win Game 4 at the same venue on Tuesday.