Australia
With the holiday weekend in Australia, the Central division was completely off and there were light schedules in the South and East, but two NBL1 divisions did have full schedules. In the West division, Sarah Mortensen helped the Cockburn Cougars maintain their perfect record with a 31 point game followed by a 33 point, 20 rebound effort. Tayah Burrows had a triple-double for the Rockingham Flames. Isabelle Bourne had 40 points to make sure that the Canberra Nationals finished their 84-79 comeback win over the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence.
In the North division, the Northside Wizards stayed perfect after Courtney Woods had 30 points in their win. The South West Metro Pirates are now in second place after Lulu Laditan-Twidale had 33 points in a win. The Darwin Salties had a tough three-game stretch with Chelsea Brook scoring 31 points in their win. They forced overtime on Sunday, but lost to the North Coast Seahawks because Erin Riley had 30 points and Lexi Held poured in 48 points. Maria Blazejewski had 30 points for the Ipswich Force.
The championship was decided in North West Tasmania. On Tuesday, the other finalist was decided and the Penguin Blues won 69-56 despite the Burnie Tigers getting to host after finishing higher up the standings. The Blues having a full strength roster gave some hope that there could be an upset in Friday’s final, but the Devonport Warriors did win 70-63 to complete a pretty dominant season.
Americas
The Brazilian league is close to the end of the regular season after Campinas won on Wednesday to finish games from previous rounds and then Catanduva defeated Santo Andre on Thursday. On Friday, Monique Pereira grabbed 20 rebounds for Ituano in a win that gave them some hopes of climbing out of last place. On Saturday, Aline Moura’s 30 point game gave Araraquara a key win in proving that they are still the favorites even with Sampaio now having a full roster. The round finished with Campinas’s win over Blumenau on Sunday and then Sampaio bounced back with a win over Catanduva to open up the last round.
In Uruguay, Defensor Sporting was upset by Yale and fell out of the tie at the top of the standings in the loss column. The two teams at the bottom of the standings played on Sunday and Karina Acosta had 37 points, but Juventud de Las Piedras still could not pick up their first win against Remeros Mercedes. It was the All Star Break in Mexico and the game itself was played in Aguascalientes on Sunday with Caliente defeating Value 90-83.
Puerto Rico held the draft for their upcoming season on Thursday with around 75 players hoping to nab one of the 32 spots, although teams ended up passing on 4 picks in the later rounds. The top of the draft was dominated by Lares and Santurce and it was no surprise that the players with national team experience went immediately. New teams Hatillo and Isabela made their picks at the end of each round.
First Round:
1. Lares – India Pagan (Stony Brook)
2. Santurce – Jada Stinson (Illinois State)
3. Santurce – Nairimar Vargas (Stony Brook)
4. Lares – Ariel Colon (FIU)
5. Lares – Paola Maldonado – (UPR-Rio Piedras)
6. Santurce – Alicia Penzo (UPR-Rio Piedras)
7. Hatillo – Katie Villarini (Buffalo State)
8. Isabela – Jade Aponte (Hunter)
Second Round:
1. Lares – Marie Benitez (Palm Beach Atlantic)
2. Santurce – Anzairys Maldonado (UPR-Bayamon)
3. Santurce – Leyinska Rivera (PUCPR)
4. Manati – Angelee Rodriguez (George Mason)
5. Carolina – Nellyzbeth Soto
6. Moca – Kristina Bynum (Coast Guard Academy)
7. Hatillo – Nicole Rodriguez (UPR-Rio Piedras)
8. Isabela – Netzybel Maysonet (USC)
Third Round:
1. Lares – Noelia Del Pilar
2. Morovis – Lyann Ramos
3. Santurce – Angeles Virella (USC)
4. Manati – Elena Angueira Bosch (Knox)
5. Moca – Ambar Pinzon
7. Hatillo – Valeria Porrata-Doria
8. Isabela – Natalia Padin (Universidad Interamericana)
Fourth Round:
2. Morovis – Heidy Soto
4. Manati – Kiara Narvaez
5. Carolina – Kimicha Fort
7. Hatillo – Fabiola Gonzalez
8. Isabela – Daynelisse Rivera (UPR-Bayamon)
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