Turkish League Round 6 November 12th-14th
Another round started on Saturday as Kayla McBride and Natasha Howard led Fenerbahce to a 97-53 win over Lyndra Weaver and Kayseri, but it might have been the occupant of the third foreigner spot that may be the more important sign for their continental ambitions. The struggles continued for Rize in a 62-44 loss to Cankaya University. That stands in sharp contrast to the other league newcomers as Megan Walker led them to a 76-60 win over Feyonda Fitzgerald and Antalya. On Sunday, Besiktas got their first win with Dana Evans helping them bounce back from some tough losses with a brilliant game in an 84-81 overtime win over Alexis Prince, Markeisha Gatling and Hatay, which was not quite as deep as usual. Good games from Riquna Williams and Reshanda Gray were not enough for Orman as Galatasaray left with a 69-62 win to stay perfect. Cukurova signed a player from Nesibe Aydin then defeated them 91-68. Emma Cannon continues to lead Bursa, but Botas won the Monday game 71-57.
November 12
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162536/istatistik
Fenerbahce [97]: McBride 27 Howard 21/10r Meesseman 11 Stokes 6/6r Cakir 6/10a
Kayseri [53]: Weaver 22/8r Hayes 13/13r
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162533/istatistik
Rize [44]: Ozdemir 11 Sherrill 10/10r Benson 5/11r
Cankaya Universitesi [62]: White 17/13r/8a Harris 16 Aydogan 14/8r Turner 10/18r Yalcinkaya 0
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162538/istatistik
Emlak Konut [76]: Walker 21/7r Lavender 14/15r Fields 12/6r Caglar 11/14r
Antalya [60]: Fitzgerald 26 Nyingifa 15/10r Hillsman 8/8r
November 13
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162532/istatistik
Hatay [81]: A. Prince 30/10r Gatling 21/10r Akbas 11 E. Prince 10
Besiktas [84]: Evans 37 Reimer 12/6r Topuz 11/10r Uzunoglu 11
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162534/istatistik
Orman [62]: Williams 23/10r Gray 22/8r Dubljevic 0 Ozelci 0
Galatasaray [69]: Bilgic 19/6a Jurjane 14/6r Alben 14 Nacickaite 10 Coates 3/15r
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162535/istatistik
Cukurova [91]: Bonner 17 Akalan 16 Jones 15 Atas 13/6r Hayes 12 Guner 11 Hollingsworth 3/6r
Nesibe Aydin [68]: Nelson 11 Thomas 10/8a
November 14
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162537/istatistik
Botas [71]: Macaulay 15/11r Uzun 13/7a Gulcan 12 Avci 10 Slocum 3/6r
Bursa [57]: Cannon 20/6r Kavurmacioglu 14/8r Cuic 10 Davis 7
Standings:
1. Galatasaray 6-0
2. Fenerbahce 5-1
3. Cukurova 5-1
4. Botas 5-1
5. Nesibe Aydin 4-2
6. Emlak Konut 3-3
7. Hatay 3-3
8. Cankaya Universitesi 2-4
9. Orman 2-4
10. Bursa 2-4
11. Kayseri 2-4
12. Antalya 2-4
13. Besiktas 1-5
14. Rize 0-6
Israeli League Round 5 November 13th-14th
Two games in this round were played on Sunday with continental considerations ahead of the international break. Bernice Mosby and Shakira Austin teamed up to lead Elitzur Ramla past Kaila Charles and Hapoel Rishon Lezion 78-70. Kalani Brown and Maccabi Ashdod won 82-68 over Courtney Hurt and Elitzur Holon in the other game. Taylor Wurtz and ASA Jerusalem tried to stay competitive down an import again, but Mikayla Cowling and Hapoel Petah Tikva won 88-69. Alisia Jenkins nearly helped Ramat Hasharon get a win missing a key player, but Maccabi Haifa prevailed 69-64. Herzliya is still dealing with having a full lineup and making changes, but they lost to Jillian Alleyne and Maccabi Ramat Gan 67-55.
November 13
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4391
Hapoel Rishon Lezion [70]: Charles 24/9r Hooper 13/8r Manis 13 Zipel 13
Elitzur Ramla [78]: Mosby 21/8r Austin 20/15r Rotberg 18 Baron 13 Babkina 4 Danan 2 Fleischer 0
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4392
Elitzur Holon [68]: Hurt 23/12r Harden 13/7a Presley 12 Raber 10
Maccabi Ashdod [82]: Brown 25/10r Walker-Kimbrough 16/11r Cohen 10 Dayan 8/6a Sahar 7 Edelman 7
November 14
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4388
Hapoel Petah Tikva [88]: Cowling 28/13r/6a Bellock 17/13r Purvis 12/8r Bell 12 Roth 10
ASA Jerusalem [69]: Wurtz 25/9r/6a Adams 12/11r Mihailetz 12 Furstenberg 10
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4390
Maccabi Haifa [69]: Okonkwo 18/8r Bulgak 15/9r Lev 12 Eisner 12 Hopkins 6/8r/6a
Ramat Hasharon [64]: Jenkins 25/7r Jones 16 Nesher 10 Saar 3 Deluty 0
http://wbl.co.il/game-zone.asp?GameId=4389
Bnot Herzliya [55]: Azouri 17 Richardson 14 Zambrotta 9 Day 4/7r Dye 4 Shea 2
Maccabi Ramat Gan [67]: Alleyne 24/9r Vaturi 13/7r Caldwell 10/7r Brown 6/8r/12a
Standings:
1. Maccabi Ashdod 5-0
2. Elitzur Ramla 4-1
3. Maccabi Ramat Gan 4-1
4. Maccabi Haifa 3-2
5. Hapoel Rishon Lezion 2-3
6. Elitzur Holon 2-3
7. Hapoel Petah Tikva 2-3
8. Ramat Hasharon 1-4
9. ASA Jerusalem 1-4
10. Bnot Herzliya 1-4
World of Basketball November 14th
Asia
Last Monday’s game in South Korea was not quite as smooth of a win for Woori Bank, but they prevailed 66-52 over the S-Birds. On Wednesday, BNK handed the Blue Minx their first loss 84-62. Thursday’s game between the last two winless teams went to overtime as Kang Lee-Seul finally helped the Stars get on the board with an 81-74 win over Hana Bank. Kim Roberson outdueled Sonia Ursu on Friday to get BNK a 73-68 win over the S-Birds. The Blue Minx handed Woori Bank their first loss on Saturday 85-74. Hana Bank stayed winless after losing to S-Birds 66-47 on Sunday. BNK has found their groove as they won 84-69 over the Stars on Monday.
The first round robin in Kazakhstan was completed with four more games for each team at a single site on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Turan is undefeated, with the neatly arranged standings having them followed by Astana Tigers, Tomiris, Caspiy, Ertis, Aktobe, Okzhetpes, Shymkent, Karaganda, and Barsy Atyrau. The cellar dwellers found themselves victimized by big games for the other teams all week as Symbat Shalkarova had 30 points for Shymkent on Tuesday, Diana Bushmeleva had 40 points and 24 rebounds for Tomiris on Friday, and Tamila Zhakipova had 37 points and 24 rebounds for Turan on Saturday. Also noteworthy were a 33 point outing for Astana’s Tamara Kuzmina on Wednesday and 21 rebounds grabbed by Nadezhda Yakovleva for Okzhetpes on Saturday.
The Americas
Games in Puerto Rico resumed last Monday right after the All Star festivities as Lares surprised Manati 83-76, but then lost to Carolina 72-52 on Tuesday. Manati slumped to another loss at Moca on Wednesday 77-75. There were two games on Thursday as Lares won 80-71 over Santurce. Morovis had key players back and took advantage of Carolina being in the middle of a roster change to win 63-60. The teams met again in the same situation on Friday and Carolina avenged their loss 70-59. Moca had the better of the second half in an 88-82 win over Lares. Pamela Rosado being at her best was not enough for Morovis on Sunday as they fell to Lares 72-69. Tatiana Gomez had another big scoring game this weekend with 31 points in Chile.
Around Europe
In order to increase competition for the top teams in each country, Albania and Kosovo have an additional competition featuring three teams from each league that started this week. All matchups in this round were cross-national and Albania swept, starting with Flamurari’s 82-70 win over Bashkimi on Tuesday. Sarah Mgbeike had 21 rebounds for Prishtina, but 32 points from Klea Verri helped Tirana win 93-88. Wednesday’s game was Partizani’s 71-61 win at Penza. In Albanian domestic league play over the weekend, Bernada Rreshpja had 31 points and 7 steals for Vllaznia.
Another set of games was played in the European league with three teams meeting in Riga, Latvia to play their first two games. The hosts won 66-59 against Ostrava on Friday, but the Czech club bounced back on Saturday with an 85-64 win over Siauliai. The teams were all even after Sunday’s game though as the Lithuanian team edged their neighbors 76-72 despite a 31 point game from Kate Vilka. Elsewhere in cross-national play, Neptunas is 7-0 to start Baltic league play. Tyra Buss and Laurita Jurciute each scored 30 points for their teams this week while in Lithuania, Kriste Timofejeva had a 7 steal performance. In the Adriatic, Montana had Monique Reid dominating again with 37 points in a win over Bosnian outfit Banovici.
The first games of the Russian Cup quarterfinals were played during the week and featured three close games, but none closer than the rare tie game. In league play, another American opted to sign in the country recently and made her debut. It was also a cup weekend in the British League, but the standout individual effort was from the lone league game after Oaklands Wolves needed 32 points from Jorjah Smith to edge Cardiff Met Archers 79-77. After no games were scheduled in Ukraine last week, play continued with an overtime game to start proceedings. The realities of running a season in these conditions became apparent again with a game interrupted by sirens on Sunday.
Top division teams in Luxembourg entered the cup this week and there were some impressive outputs. Martha Burse and Jovana Jaksic had 32 points each to help Sparta Bertrange advance on Wednesday. Jaimoni Welch-Coleman had 31 points and Isis Lane grabbed 21 rebounds to help Etzella win even though Hristina Marjanovic had a triple-double for Les Sangliers Wooltz. Soleuvre has had its struggles, but got to face a lower division team and 34 points from Svenja Mancinelli and 32 points from Madison Torresin was enough to win 79-72. In league play over the weekend, Burse had a 30 point burst to help her team get a surprise win late. Frankie Wurtz had 36 points in a win for Contern. Lane followed up her weekday game with 33 points and 26 rebounds on Sunday.
The Chase for Promotion
Feytiat was handed their first loss in the second division in France 72-68 in overtime by Monaco. Shakayla Thomas had 32 points for Calais, but Saturday’s standout performance definitely came from Clerine Choron, who had 39 points on 16 field goal attempts for La Tronche Meylan. Ferrol was handed their first loss in Spain’s second division by Paterna. Her twin may be getting the headlines, but Eleonora Villa is playing well for Costa Masnaga after they voluntarily dropped down a division in Italy and she had 31 points in a win over Treviso.
Tarsus has a two game lead against their fellow promotion hopefuls in Turkey’s second division thanks to the reserve teams of Botas and Fenerbahce helping them out so far. The top two performances came from the Elazig teams this weekend as Ameryst Alston had 30 points, but Channon Fluker topped that with 43 points and 24 rebounds in 32 minutes. The usual fun happened in Iceland’s second division, starting with a fantastic duel between Violet Morrow, who had 38 points for KR, and Cheah Rael-Whitsitt, who had 36 points for Snaefell in a 77-70 win. Dilja Larusdottir had 31 points in Stjarnan’s win while Chloe Wanink had 40 points and 12 steals in an easy Tindastoll win.
The teams chasing a spot in the top division in Portugal are able to bring in established foreigners in their quest. There are nine teams in the northern zone and eight in the southern zone so the two divisions are not quite on the same page yet. Barcelos is undefeated in the north behind an incredible start for Becca Wan-Taylor, who is averaging 30 points and 22 rebounds a game including a 39 point, 29 rebound effort last weekend and she had 33 points and 22 rebounds in a cup win this weekend. Also in this division, Catarina Mateus had 32 points for Coimbroes. The early lead in the south is held by Ferragudo, which got 36 points from Fatumata Balde in a win against Maritimo, which only managed 29 points.
Notable Individual Performances
There were plenty of big individual games this week. There were two rounds of games played in Sweden this week with Wednesday providing its share of entertainment after Jessica Kelliher had 35 points and 23 rebounds in Ostersund’s win over Uppsala, which got 30 points from Tiffany Brown and 7 steals from Savannah Plentovich and Alvik completed a fantastic comeback against Sodertalje in overtime with 33 points from Kyah Proctor. Karissa Kajorinne had 30 points for Olivais in Portugal. In Iceland, Aliyah Collier had a 32 point game while Taylor Jones reached the 36 point mark. It was Kati Ollilainen’s turn to take the lead for the Finnish youngsters of HBA, but 31 points was not enough for a win while Carmen Tyson-Thomas and Sierra Moore continue to be a lethal duo for Espoo. Kerli Haas had 30 points in a loss in Estonia. Merritt Hempe is taking advantage of an unexpected opportunity to join USK and had 31 points to outscore their Prague neighbors Slavia herself in a 138-23 win. Hailey Leidel had season highs in Cyprus with 34 points and 18 rebounds. In Croatia, Khiana Johnson had her share of points, but also dished out 15 assists for Sibenik while Iva Todoric added 6 steals to a triple-double for Ragusa. Bosnian highlights included Niya Mitchell’s 30 point, 20 rebound not being enough for Jedinstvo to get a win as young Ivana Dakovic had a triple-double with blocks for Leotar and Zvjezdana Gagic had 10 steals in Kozara’s loss.
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