If Monaco Basket Association wanted to make an impression on the opening night of the LF2 season, an 89–41 victory was a fairly convincing way to do it.
Nearly 600 spectators gathered at the Gaston-Médecin hall in Stade Louis-II for Monaco’s first league encounter of the 2026–27 campaign. They witnessed a performance that began cautiously but ended as an exhibition of fast, flowing and remarkably collective basketball.
By the final buzzer, Rouen-Bihorel had been beaten by 48 points.
Five Players, One Message
The most striking feature was not the performance of any single Monaco star. It was how many there were.
Five MBA players finished in double figures. Julie Tétart led the scoring with 14 points, Carolina Rodrigues added 13 and earned match MVP honours, while Maud Stervinou scored 12 and Ilona Hattab and Emily Prugnières contributed 11 apiece.
Stepha M’Baye added another eight points and five rebounds.
But perhaps the statistic that best told the story was 31 assists for Monaco compared with just eight for Rouen-Bihorel.
The ball kept moving. So did the players. And whenever the visitors appeared to have found an answer to one Monaco threat, somebody else provided another question.
Even the substitutes joined enthusiastically in the scoring, with Monaco’s bench contributing 40 points against just six from Rouen-Bihorel.
Then Monaco Hit the Accelerator
For all the eventual dominance, the game did not begin as a procession.
Monaco led 36–23 at half-time, having taken a little while to settle into their first competitive match of the season.
“We took some time to get into the game,” coach Manu Body admitted. “It was our first league match, so I think the girls were a little tense because of the occasion.”
Whatever was said during the interval certainly worked.
Monaco returned to win the third quarter 25–11. Then came an even more emphatic final period.
Twenty-eight points for Monaco. Seven for Rouen-Bihorel.
What had been a comfortable advantage rapidly became a rout.
An Impressive Opening Statement
M’Baye was pleased with the performance but offered an early reminder that one spectacular evening does not make a season.
That may be wise.
But opening nights are about first impressions, and Monaco could hardly have produced a stronger one: 89 points, five players in double figures, 31 assists and contributions from throughout the squad.
The season is only one game old, but MBA have already demonstrated something their future opponents might prefer not to hear.
Stopping one Monaco player may not be nearly enough.
