Asia
Another full weekend of play in Japan saw the Iris drop from the ranks of the unbeaten with a split against the Magic and the Rabbits earned their first win in surprising fashion, salvaging a split after only managing half the points of the Vickies the previous day. The Queen Bees split with the Aranmare, but there were sweeps elsewhere by the Cougars, Antelopes, Sunflowers, and Red Wave. South Korea had their first two games and Sunday’s opener was excellent with star Kim Dan-Bi providing a 32 point, 17 rebound, 10 assist triple-double to get her team the overtime win. Monday’s game was also close with the Blue Minx grabbing a one point win. Inner Mongolia dropped a game to Jiangsu in China as the top teams start their battle for the bye in the playoffs while the league made headlines in the basketball world this week.
Africa
Qualification in two zones was completed over the weekend as clubs were looking to secure spots in December’s continental championship. In Zone 4, Overdose hosted in Yaounde, welcoming fellow Cameroonian side University of Douala and CNSS from the Democratic Republic of Congo. They had an easy win against the University of Douala on Friday, which bounced back on Saturday as the round-robin progressed. CNSS did win against the hosts on Sunday, but not by enough of a margin to change any of the tiebreakers and failed to advance.
Zone 5 has been playing since last Saturday with great representation from across the region. Kigali was the site of the tournament with two local teams APR and REG joined by Vijana Queens and JKT of Tanzania, KPA and Hawks from Kenya, JKL Dolphins from Uganda, Gladiators from Burundi, and Nile Legends from South Sudan. Group play was first with knockout games to determine the qualifiers. JKT was the only team to not advance to the knockout stage with five teams in Group B. Group A winners Hawks defeated Group B fourth place team Nile Legends, Group B winners KPA knocked out the last place team in Group A Vijana Queens, JKL Lady Dolphins defeated Group A runners up APR, and Group B runners up REG sent Gladiators packing in the quarterfinals on Thursday. KPA and REG won the critical semifinals for qualification on Friday and the former won the final game on Saturday.
Around Europe
It was a busy week in the Adriatic with some teams playing two games and Celje and Buducnost are the undefeated teams in their groups. Jelena Ivezic had 33 points to help Plamen Pozega pick up their first win and Natasa Sobot had a 30 point game for Orlovi. Panathinaikos sent an early message to rivals Olympiacos that the title could be up for grabs again in Greece with a narrow win. Jordan Lewis was the leading scorer in the country with a 35 point game. A week in Ukraine’s second division included a 20 rebound game for Maria Pugach, a 13 point, 20 rebound, 11 assist triple-double from Viktoria Paziuk, and a 30 point game for Anastasia Rybas.
Chase for Promotion
Edremit stayed in the lead in Turkey’s second division, withstanding a 38 point game from Kamaria McDaniel. Zonguldak stayed behind them with promotion specialist Sasha Goodlett providing them with 30 points. Aliyah Maczyk had another 30 point game while Tearra Banks and Chanel Mokango hit the 36 point mark and Aliyah Collier grabbed 23 rebounds. Irene Cafumo grabbed 21 rebounds in a game in Portugal’s second division. Scrivia was handed their first loss in their section of Italy’s second division so there is a five-way tie after five rounds. Lucia Missanelli had a 30 point game in the other group. A fantastic game in Iceland’s second division had Aniya Thomas score 50 points to lead her team to victory, overcoming a 40 point effort on the other side from Jordan Danberry. In Germany’s second division, Chanell Williams had 36 points to out-duel Erin Antosh, who had 35 points. In the North, Shannon Ryan had 35 points to outscore Chemnitz on her own in Rotenburg’s win while Tonia Dolle had a 31 point game. The youngsters of France’s federal training program scored a rare win in the second division and there are no undefeated teams anymore after La Tronche Meylan fell to Aulnoye.
Notable Individual Performances
Slavia Banska Bystrica continued to take out continental frustrations on overmatched opponents in Slovakia, getting 37 points from Snezana Bogicevic. Keandra Koorits had a 33 point game in Latvia. Lindsey Pulliam had a 32 point game in Iceland. Taru Tuukkanen, who will turn 46 later in the season, had a 30 point game in only 19 minutes in Finland. Eliska Halova had a 38 point game in the Czech Republic. In Cyprus, Kylie Meadows had 23 rebounds to help her team offset 31 points from Kaela Webb. Lana Packovski had 30 points in a game in Croatia that also saw Dora Cipcic grab 20 rebounds while Dynnah Buckner turned in a 31 point effort in her game. Asia Henderson had a 31 point game in Albania to equal the opposition while A’Lexxus Davis grabbed 20 rebounds in her game.
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