Art Basket Belgrade Women secured a 70:66 victory over Ras Women in the 1st Women's League ZLS on Monday evening. The result keeps the visitors in fourth place while Ras remain ninth after twenty-two games each. To be fair, the margin tells only part of the story — this was a contest decided in the closing moments rather than any dominant display from either side.
Ras came into the fixture having lost their previous meeting with Partizan by a heavy margin, though they had shown resilience against ZKK Kraljevo with a 78:75 win. Art Basket, meanwhile, had dropped points against Vojvodina 021 but recovered with a narrow victory over Student Niš. By then, both sides carried the weight of their seasons on their shoulders.
The home side started brighter and held the advantage for much of the first half, but Art Basket never truly panicked. They switched off at the back in patches, allowing Ras to extend their lead, yet they clawed their way back when it mattered. And here's the thing — you can see it in the scoreline that the away team found something in the final quarter that the home side could not match.
Both sides have played twenty-two matches, but the gap in quality shows in the table. Art Basket sit on sixteen wins with only six defeats, while Ras have managed just seven victories from fifteen losses. The visitors have kept their position in the upper half, whereas Ras continue to fight for stability in the bottom third.
The result extends Art Basket's unbeaten run to three consecutive games, though it is not yet a streak worth celebrating. Ras will look to bounce back next time out, but the deeper squad and the experience on display tonight belonged to the visitors. The gap between them — four points in the standings — is small, but it is enough to separate ambition from reality.
