Australia
A busy week in NBL1 included the South division as Bendigo continues their undefeated run, defeating a Mt. Gambier side that finally had all of their stars available at the same time. Brittany Smart had the highest scoring game with 32 points for the Sandringham Sabres, followed by a 31 point effort by Paige Bradley for the Hobart Chargers. The latter came in a loss to the Casey Cavaliers, which climbed out of being all alone in last place. On the rebounding front, Alicia Froling had 21 boards for the Knox Raiders in a game that saw the schedule makers deny everyone a twin battle, and Ella Tofaeono had 20 boards for Geelong.
The Northside Wizards continued to struggle in the North division, leaving room for a team like the Logan Thunder, who got a 31 point, 21 rebound game from Mikaela Ruef. The Rockhampton Cyclones also look strong as Samantha Bowman had 20 rebounds and then 30 points in a pair of wins, the latter also featuring a 32 point game from Lauren Heard. Rip City got a 23 point, 12 rebound, 10 assist triple-double from Carlie Smith to defeat the Mackay Meteorettes, which got 31 points from Davida Dale.
Alex Ciabattoni inserted herself into the starting lineup, but the South West Slammers are still stuck in last place in the West division after an 88-54 loss to the Goldfields Giants that saw Kiriana Hawaikirangi score 33 points and Aimee Borchet grab 24 rebounds. Right above them, the Perth Redbacks had a tough task against the Cockburn Cougars, which rolled to a win with 42 points from Sarah Mortensen. The Willetton Tigers could be dangerous down the stretch as they got 31 points from Melisa Brcaninovic in a win. A fun duel saw 34 points from Caitlyn Jones leave the Lakeside Lightning short in a loss to the Rockingham Flames, which got 31 points from Casey Samuels.
The first game in the East division was on Thursday with Isla Juffermans scoring 30 points for the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence. That led to a continued freefall for the Sydney Comets, which had to lose a player to national team duty at an inconvenient time. They lost to the Newcastle Falcons, which got 20 rebounds from Nicole Munger, on Saturday, and then Mikayla Pivec had an 18 point, 14 rebound, 10 assist triple-double to pile on more misery with Sunday’s Albury Wodonga Bandits win. Players have been taking advantage of the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Spiders, who sit at the bottom of the standings on both the women’s and men’s side, to record incredible statlines and this weekend was no exception. Mikaela Dombkins had 38 points and 29 rebounds for the Inner West Bulls on Saturday. Madeleine Norris racked up 41 points and Jordyn Dewhurst had a 14 point, 10 rebound, 12 assist triple-double for the Sutherland Sharks on Sunday.
The fun game in the Central division went to overtime with Emily Winter’s 16 point, 18 rebound, 10 assist triple-double not holding up for the Woodville Warriors because Ally Wilson had a 24 point, 18 rebound, 16 assist statline for the Norwood Flames as they were the two players to play all 45 minutes. Taylah Levy was the leading scorer with 36 points in an Eastern Mavericks win. The Sturt Sabres sewed up sole possession of first place, but are still looking to finish undefeated.
The highest scoring game in Big V this weekend was in the top division as Amanda Paschal had 31 points to lead Wyndham to a win in a game that saw Alicia Carline grab 21 rebounds for the Sherbrooke Suns. Tegan Hindle had 10 steals for the Hume Broncos, a mark matched in the third tier by Anaya Rodisha in a tough loss for Collingwood. Courtney Hollowood had a 30 point game for Surf Coast in Collingwood’s other big loss.
Mexico
The regular season is winding down so some teams were playing out the string or while others were focusing more on being ready for the postseason. There was one Thursday-Friday series that had Monterrey winning two games at Leon. The top two teams met with Chihuahua hosting and sweeping to take over the lead from Aguascalientes. Xalapa has the bye next week so they finished the regular season, albeit after an overtime as Irapuato salvaged a split. Correcaminos also pulled out of last place after Brittany Byrd led them with 30 points on Friday, but Veracruz bounced back on Saturday after Akilah Bethel scored 34 points. Jalisco swept Fresnillo so they still have hopes of moving up the standings in the final week.
AfroBasket Qualifying
Not all zones in Africa had enough teams vying for qualification to the continental tournament so Ivory Coast from Zone 3 and Guinea from Zone 2 played a 2 game series on Friday and Sunday for 1 spot. Ivory Coast hosted both games in Treichville instead of a home-and-home. Guinea did not have a full lineup and Masseny Kaba tried her best, but they fell 81-55 on Friday and then 98-46 for a 179-101 Ivory Coast aggregate win.
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