Turkish League Round 9 December 3rd-5th
The round started with one game on Saturday and Epiphanny Prince returned for Hatay after missing their surprise loss and teamed up with Alexis Prince to get them an 80-68 win over Reshanda Gray and Orman. Emma Meesseman led Fenerbahce past shorthanded Cankaya University 87-61 on Sunday. Dana Evans tried to lead Besiktas to a surprise, but Chelsea Gray started to get in the flow in her first game of the season and Jonquel Jones paced Cukurova in a 92-87 win. Emma Cannon and Bursa just edged Lyndra Weaver and Kayseri 82-81. Galatasaray was not convincing, but did bounce back for a 55-47 win over Botas. Derin Yaya’s efforts were not enough for Nesibe Aydin in an 84-72 loss. Rize filled their last foreign player spot to be more competitive against the other teams, but it was not enough to fend off Khaalia Hillsman, Feyonda Fitzgerald, and Antalya as they fell 73-69.
December 3
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162556/istatistik
Hatay [80]: E. Prince 25/6r A. Prince 22/13r/6a Gatling 9
Orman [68]: Gray 25/6r Erat 15/6r Gezgin 14 Williams 10/10r Ozelci 0
December 4
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162554/istatistik
Cankaya Universitesi [61]: Harris 18/7r/8a Egbo 16/8r Yalcinkaya 10/8r Turk 5
Fenerbahce [87]: Meesseman 26/13r McBride 19 Onar 19 Iagupova 10/7r Stokes 2/9r Cakir 0
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162555/istatistik
Besiktas [87]: Evans 41/7a Reimer 16/7r Bayram 15/9r
Cukurova [92]: Jones 28/16r Gray 27/9a Hayes 13 Fitik 10 Hollingsworth 7
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162557/istatistik
Kayseri [81]: Weaver 31/8r Hayes 14/11r Sonmez 14/7a Kalbisagde 12
Bursa [82]: Cannon 35/9r Davis 17
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162553/istatistik
Galatasaray [55]: Stevens 19/14r McCowan 11/8r Nacickaite 4 Canitez 1/6r
Botas [47]: Macaulay 17/7r Slocum 5/8r
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162558/istatistik
Nesibe Aydin [72]: Yaya 21 Hempe 14/11r Nelson 14/8r Akalan 11 Thomas 8/9a
Emlak Konut [84]: Walker 19/8r Fields 17/11r Lavender 17/8r Eldas 14
December 5
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2022-2023/mac-detay/162559/istatistik
Antalya [73]: Hillsman 20/17r Fitzgerald 20/6a Boybeyi 13/9r Bakircioglu 11/6r Wallace 9
Rize [69]: Benson 19/7r Sherrill 13/14r Morgan 12 Ustun 10
Standings:
1. Cukurova 8-1
2. Fenerbahce 7-2
3. Galatasaray 7-2
4. Emlak Konut 6-3
5. Nesibe Aydin 6-3
6. Botas 5-4
7. Hatay 5-4
8. Bursa 4-5
9. Cankaya Universitesi 3-6
10. Orman 3-6
11. Kayseri 3-6
12. Antalya 3-6
13. Besiktas 2-7
14. Rize 1-8
World of Basketball
Americas
The last game of the regular season in Puerto Rico was moved to Wednesday and Manati could have moved everything straight to the semifinals with a win. They rested players and forced their upcoming opponents to play an extra game by losing 92-71 to Morovis. That one game playoff was on Thursday and it more than lived up to expectations as Carolina forced overtime and then had the edge in the extra frame to eliminate Morovis 78-74.
One best of five playoff series started on Friday and Moca got the 79-74 win over Santurce as Alexis Jennings grabbed 21 rebounds. They repeated the result on Saturday, holding on to an 81-78 win. Top seed Manati won the first game in the other series 78-72 over Carolina. They did not start well in the second game on Sunday and Carolina evened the series with a 76-65 victory. Santurce avoided elimination on Monday with a 66-63 win over Moca.
In Chile, Tatiana Gomez had 31 points in one game and 25 rebounds in another. Javiera Novion was close to two triple-doubles, but ended with 7 steals in one game and 8 in the other. Daniela Dublo had a 31 point game too while Constanza Cardenas had 23 rebounds in a game.
Asia
Hana Bank finally picked up their first win of the season in South Korea on Wednesday 70-66 over the Stars. Woori Bank put some distance between themselves and BNK at the top of the standings with an 84-69 win on Thursday. S-Birds won 78-51 over the Stars on Friday. After their first win, Hana Bank had a tough next task on Saturday against the leaders Woori Bank and lost 82-53 after Park Ji-Hyun had a triple-double for the visitors. The Blue Minx kept themselves solidly in the top half with an 83-72 win over the S-Birds on Sunday. BNK finished the week with a 69-60 win over the Stars on Monday.
The second weekend of games was played in Japan’s Empress’s Cup with the WJBL teams entering. 37 points from Naomi Kitagawa was not enough for the Rabbits, who were knocked out by Tokyo Healthcare University. Mana Daikichi had 49 points for the Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences, but they could not match that feat in a 90-88 loss to the Vickies. Aimi Wakahara had 40 points for the Queen Bees, but Japan University of Economics won 96-92 in overtime. Kurashiki Suisho was the lone high school team to win as they edged corporate team Tsuruya Department Store in a fantastic individual battle. That earned them a Sunday matchup with the league champions Antelopes and they bowed out 111-40. Tokyo Healthcare University tossed out another professional team after their 76-73 win over V-Magic.
The regular season started in China on Wednesday with the games planned for a single site at the beginning. After another season of consolidation among the rosters of the top teams with stars less and less spread out, the league did change the format. The teams were divided into two halves based on records last season and the first games are scheduled within those groups. Performance in each phase will determine the groups for the next phase. Unfortunately, consistently globally available statistics have not been accessible so far so there is no expectation that notable accomplishments in the league can be documented here.
The Chase for Promotion
With the top spot in Turkey’s second division out of reach for now, teams are jockeying for playoff positioning right now. Both relegated teams are in the hunt as Channon Fluker had 37 points and 7 blocks for Elazig Il Ozel Odere. Rebounding numbers were more impressive than scoring this week as Mireille Muganza had 23 in a loss while Zakyia Weathersby grabbed 20. A wild game in Serbia’s second division had Valentina Vasiljevic score 33 points for Ljubovija in a 116-82 win over Stara Pazova, which got 38 points from Marija Ristic. Becca Wann-Taylor had 40 points in Portugal’s second division, but a 27 point, 24 rebound game was not enough in the cup. The most ridiculous statline in the league may have been Joana Magalhaes recording 13 steals for the reserve team of Quinta Dos Lombos, matching the scoring output of their opponents Maritimo. In Iceland’s second division, Jenna Mastellone had a 34 point game while Cheah Rael-Whitsitt grabbed 28 rebounds. Eden Nibbelink had 31 points for Mainz in Germany’s second division.
Notable Individual Performances
Ornela Lalaj had 22 rebounds in a matchup of Albanian teams in the united Albania-Kosovo competition Leila Omerbasic had 32 points in Kosovo’s league. Kibirkstis was handed their first loss in the Baltic League, but bounced back with a 33 point effort from Gintare Petronyte. In Lithuania’s local league, Kamile Zukaite had a 41 point game while Kristina Grige had 30 points and 28 rebounds in another game and her teammate Egle Juceviciute had 26 rebounds along with 27 points. In the Adriatic, Shareka McNeill helped Vojvodina hand Celje, which also lost a domestic league game, their first loss, and take the top spot in the group for now.
Elsewhere in Europe, Bria Goss had a 30 point game for Lulea in Sweden. Hana Ivanusa also reached that mark in Slovenia. Lisanne De Jonge had 38 points, but her team still lost in the Netherlands. Martha Burse had the biggest scoring game in Luxembourg’s league play with 30 points, but Mikayla Ferenz had 35 points in a cup loss. Keira Robinson had a 30 point game in Iceland. Some of the more impressive statlines in the British league came in losses as Lauren Saiki had a triple-double, Samantha Keltos had 30 points, and Grace George topped that with 33 points. Laina Snyder had a 30 points game in Germany. In Finland, Sierra Moore and Kristina King each had 31 points while Tera Reed had 30 and Rashida Timbilla dished out 17 assists and Carmen Tyson-Thomas had a 35 point effort, but the biggest game came from Reili Richardson, who had a 44 point game in a narrow win. Young Ellada Gavrielidou grabbed 29 rebounds in a game in Cyprus. Shanice Johnson had 20 rebounds in Croatia. Rebounding also stuck out in Bosnia as Niya Mitchell had 27 and Andela Demirovic had 22. Camilla Neumann had 11 steals to record a triple-double in Austria.
Women's Basketball News and Opinions 