Last-place Shinhan Bank Esburd once again scattered fiery peppers. This time they properly tripped up the busy Busan BNK.
Shinhan Bank defeated BNK 71-68 in an away game of the BNK Financial 2025-2026 women's professional basketball regular season held at Busan Sajik Indoor Gymnasium on the 22nd.
With this, Shinhan Bank followed up its 52-37 rout of Bucheon Hana Bank, which had been sole leader two days earlier, by pulling off the upset of also beating BNK, which is in fierce four-team playoff (PO) competition. This is the team's first winning streak of the season. Already confirmed as last place, Shinhan Bank's record became 6 wins and 20 losses.
Meanwhile, BNK, mired in a losing streak, took its 15th loss of the season (12 wins) and fell from a tie for fourth place to fifth. They could not shake off the shock of losing in an overtime slugfest to playoff rival Samsung Life Insurance the previous day.
From the start Shinhan Bank surged. Hong Yoo-soon and Shin Ji-hyun handled scoring from inside and outside, and Mima Rui also made her presence felt as a substitute. Shinhan Bank closed the first quarter with a big 18-6 lead against a BNK whose offense was not functioning properly.
The scoring gap hardly narrowed. Shin Ji-hyun and Shin Yi-seul moved actively and led Shinhan Bank's offense. BNK tried to counter as Lee So-hee and Park Hye-jin hit shots from outside, but repeated turnovers prevented them from gaining momentum. At halftime Shinhan Bank led 37-23.
In the third quarter BNK started to rally. Ahn Hye-ji and Park Hye-jin consecutively buried 3-pointers, and Kim Sonia added points in the paint. Shinhan Bank tried to answer with outside shots from Shin Yi-seul and Shin Ji-hyun, but BNK's outside attack was hotter. Shinhan Bank held a narrow 48-44 lead after the third quarter.
The close contest continued until the end. It seemed Shinhan Bank might pull away when Kim Ji-young sank consecutive 3-pointers, but BNK kept the game tight thanks to Kim Sonia's blazing performance. In the end Shinhan Bank completed its first winning streak of the season, led by free throws from Shin Ji-hyun.
Shin Ji-hyun led the victory as the top contributor with 25 points, including a personal single-game career high of six 3-pointers (previously five). Shin Yi-seul added 17 points and nine rebounds, and Hong Yoo-soon posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
For BNK, veteran Park Hye-jin scored 21 points, and Kim Sonia (17 points), Ahn Hye-ji (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Lee So-hee (11 points) also scored in double digits, but they could not avoid defeat. Failing to find an offensive path in the first half, when they managed only six points in the first quarter, hampered them.
[OSEN]