Americas
The semifinals started in Brazil with the top two seeds hitting the road for the openers before getting the chance to host the rest of each series at home. Sampaio lost to Campinas on Thursday after looking strong with their full roster, leaving themselves needing to win both home games. Araraquara looked like the top seed on Friday, winning at Santo Andre to give themselves two chances to close out the series.
Only one semifinals series needed to be settled in Mexico as Xalapa looked to extend their season at home on Wednesday. Monterrey took care of business though after a narrow loss in the previous game to advance to the finals against top seed Chihuahua.
In Uruguay, the upper group reached the halfway point on Sunday after Agustina Jordheuil had 35 points and 21 rebounds to keep Malvin undefeated, leaving Hebraica Macabi at the bottom of the standings. On Saturday, 25 Agosto’s momentum continued after Sabrina Molina led them and grabbed 24 rebounds in a win over Yale. Aguada defeated Defensor Sporting in the other game. Lagomar started the second half of play in the lower group with win over Urunday Universitario on Saturday and then Remeros Mercedes stayed undefeated and kept Juventud de las Piedras winless on Sunday.
The season started in Puerto Rico, including a finals rematch on Saturday. Neither team looked to be in midseason form, but Moca exploded enough in the second half to get the same result as their last meeting with a win over Carolina. The day’s other game had its share of fireworks with Manati dominating the second half after Kaela Hilaire dialed up 17 assists in a rout of Lares. Isabela made their return to the competition in the first game on Sunday and defeated Santurce. Hatillo finally got to make their debut in the last game of the weekend and rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Morovis behind 32 points from Adrienne Godbold.
Australia
A champion was crowned in NBL1 after the Northside Wizards swept the Rockhampton Cyclones in the North division finals. All of the other divisions will have their finals next week as the Norwood Flames got 34 points from Ally Wilson to advance to that game in the Central division. In the South division semifinals, the Bendigo Braves nearly found themselves getting bounced by the Mt. Gambier Pioneers, but Amy Atwell had 33 points and Megan McKay had 20 rebounds to keep their perfect record. They will face the Waverley Falcons after their win at Geelong. In the West division, the Willetton Tigers edged the Rockingham Flames and Sarah Mortensen had 30 points to lead the Cockburn Cougars past the Mandurah Magic. In the East division, the Norths Bears eliminated the Sydney Comets and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles sent the youngsters of the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence packing.
The regular season concluded in Big V’s top division with the Wydnham Wildcats remaining undefeated as the other competitions were already in the postseason. In the middle division, Jenna Mastellone’s 38 point effort for the Western Port Steelers helped them defeat the Mildura Heat in the elimination game. The top seed Warrnambool Mermaids came back to defeat the Bellarine Storm and advance to the championship. The playoffs started in the third tier with wins for Gippsland and the Wallan Panthers, meaning that Surf Coast and the Blackburn Vikings would need two wins on the road to extend their seasons.
New Zealand
Another week in New Zealand started with the Hoiho defeating the Queens on Tuesday. The Kahu won both games on Wednesday, continuing their trend of bringing key players off the bench after Krystal Leger-Walker and Penina Davidson each played over 40 minutes over the course of the day. Their opponents, the Pouakai, joined in the act when their captain Lauryn Hippolite played heavy minutes in both games and Jasmine Dickey’s 33 points were not enough in the main game. Ashten Prechtel grabbed 20 rebounds as the Hoiho won again on Friday. Jade Kirisome played over 40 minutes that day for the Whai and then did that again on Sunday when they won both games against the Queens, who played Stella Beck more than 40 minutes.
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