Photo: Kai Oehler

Early lead, late scare: We secure our first win of the season

01.11.2026

We’ve secured our first win of the season. On Saturday night, we beat the Rhein-Main Baskets 82–76 at Lobeda West—and in our very first game as the VITAM!NAQUA Baskets Jena, of all things. Before the game, we’d written that one of the two teams would score the first points of the season—and we wanted it to be us. Now it is.

A strong start and our best stretch

We were actually trailing after just over two minutes. Then Jada Smith put us ahead in the third minute, and we never relinquished that lead until the end.

What followed was our best stretch: 16 straight points, including three consecutive baskets by Hannah Biwersi, and after seven minutes, the score was 20–6. Rhein-Main fought back to within four points in the second quarter, but we responded immediately and went into halftime leading 46–34.

Overcame a Slump

Things continued to go our way after the break as well. In the 28th minute, Magdalena Zimmermann hit a three-pointer to make it 60–45, our largest lead of the game.

Unfortunately, what happened next was all too familiar from our game in Bad Homburg: We couldn’t score another basket, the visitors scored ten straight points, and heading into the final quarter, our lead had shrunk to just five.

This time, we had the answer. Hannah Biwersi, Annika Heck, and Jada Smith quickly reestablished the lead, and Heck’s three-pointer even put us back up by eleven points. With three minutes left, however, the game got close again. In the final minute, Lina Lieckfeld scored off an assist from Smith, and shortly afterward, Rhein-Main made two free throws. Paula Süßmann scored the last basket of the evening, but it didn’t change the outcome of the game.

Game Stats

With 82 points, we scored 21 more than in any other competitive game this season. It wasn’t a clean game—we turned the ball over 20 times—and the opposing center, Paula Süßmann, gave us a lot of trouble with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Rhein-Main turned the ball over even more often, though, and we scored significantly more in the paint. But we won this one together:

Jada Smith: 31 points and 11 rebounds (her first double-double in the league)
Annika Heck: 13 points and 5 steals
Lina Lieckfeld: Started for the first time and scored 12 points
Elza Bierina: 10 rebounds