Asia
It was the second weekend of the Empress’s Cup in Japan with top division teams entering at this stage after school and company teams had started play over a weekend in September. The Rabbits, which have been struggling in the league, found themselves a Saturday victim to a high school from Gifu, which got 21 rebounds from Juhu Hadjiatu. The Cougars fell to a college team from Hakuoh University. The final upset of the day was Aranmare’s narrow loss to the company league team Red Arrows, which got 32 point from Izumi Abe. Hinari Kunii had a 31 point game to help Aichi Gakusen University advance. The top teams in the highest league joined in Sunday’s round, but Hakuoh University knocked off the Vickies to advance to the quarterfinals.
Another round in South Korea started on Wednesday with Woori Bank staying perfect after defeating the S-Birds. The Stars matched them with a win over Hana Bank on Thursday. Woori Bank was challenged by the Blue Minx on Friday, but still prevailed. Hana Bank won against BNK on Saturday and the S-Birds remained winless after losing to the Blue Minx on Sunday. That set up the battle of the top two teams on Monday and it was a close game, but the Stars handed Woori Bank their first loss.
The second set of games in Kazakhstan was played from Tuesday through Sunday in Aktobe, which hosted Caspiy, Turan, and Barsy Atyrau, and Pavlodar, where Ertis hosted Oqjetpes, Astana Tigers, and Tomiris. Big individual efforts included a 23 rebound game from Ganna Rulyova and her 31 point game. Yana Kotova had 20 and 24 rebound games. Elizaveta Mitina had a 32 point game, matched by Mone Izumi, Aleksandra Varaksina had a 20 rebound game, and after many players got close, Alexandra Petelina got a 11 point, 11 rebound, 12 assist triple-double.
The week in China was certainly marred by a brawl between Heilongjiang and Fujian that resulted in many players getting suspended at least one game, which had some farcical outcomes in following games. There were still many interesting results at the top of the standings. Guangdong handed Jiangsu their first loss on Thursday, but lost to Inner Mongolia on Sunday, giving them the weakest grip on a top four spot and the resulting bye in the playoffs. With plenty of player transactions still to come, even the nearing conclusion of the opening round-robin will not signal much about the second half of the season, especially after the international break when teams will be gearing up for the stretch run.
Pacific Games
While there is not always a clear link, the women’s basketball competition at the multi-sport Pacific Games is supposed to help determine which teams participate in Asia-Oceania competitions. Since there is no predetermined path, we do not usually cover this event at the detail level of other national team events. After the group stage eliminated the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, the remaining six teams played in the knockout stage. The third place teams Guam and Tonga were eliminated first. That set up two semifinals that ended up being decided by a solitary point. Tahiti then avenged their loss to the Cook Islands in their group and won the gold medal. Fiji defeated Samoa, which still has an excellent future, for the bronze medal.
Around Europe
While their men’s competition is stronger than ever, the European League struggled when two sources of teams were cut off from the rest of the basketball world. They did start competition this weekend with Ostrava hosting Polonia Warszawa, who they lost to 80-73 on Saturday, and Frankivsk. The Polish club then finished off a perfect start with an 89-56 win on Sunday and the Ukrainian outfit also lost 94-72 to the Czech hosts on Monday. The last two teams in the Baltic faced off on Saturday and Riga stayed perfect. Cassidy Mihalko had a 34 point game while the Lithuanian second division included a 30 point game for Austeja Rauckyte and a big win that featured 45 points from Rita Zilinskaite, 34 points from Vitalija Miezyte, and a 24 point, 18 assist, 10 steal triple-double from Milda Sauiute. The last two undefeated teams in Sweden met on Saturday with Sodertalje rolling past Lulea. The last two undefeated teams in Belgium also played that day with Mechelen getting the early edge on Braine.
Chase for Promotion
As usual, there were big games in Turkey’s second division as Zakyia Weathersby had 31 points to keep Edremit tied for the lead. Aliyah Mazyck had 38 points, but Danielle Adams helped her team get the win with 35 points and 20 rebounds. Tearra Banks turned in the biggest scoring game with 39 points while Kamaria McDaniel reached the 35 point mark. There was only one game in Portugal’s second division that saw Ke’Vonshaye Stackhouse score 31 points. In one half of Italy’s second division, Roseto handed Udine their first loss with 23 rebounds from Alex Obouh Fegue to sit as the top seed while Vigarano got their first win. Aniya Thomas had a 37 point game in Iceland’s second division. Shannon Ryan had a 33 point game in Germany’s second division.
Notable Individual Performances
Marie Hunter had a 31 point game in Switzerland. Becca Wann-Taylor had a busy weekend with Barcelos in Portugal, including a 32 point game. Tayler Bennett had a 36 point, 20 rebound effort in Malta. In Kosovo, Mar’Shay Moore and Taylor Jones each had 30 point games. Caitlin Bickle had a 30 point game in Greece. Karolina Sotolova had a 30 point game in the Czech Republic. Mikaela Damyanova had a 30 point game in Bulgaria. Jelena Zoric had a 29 point, 19 rebound, 13 assist triple-double in the Bosnian league. Bernada Rreshpja had a 40 point game in Albania while Luna Luca grabbed 23 rebounds.
There were a number of big games in Luxembourg, including 30 points from Amanda Cahill while Nicole Fransson had 32 points for the opposition, a 30 point game from Alexia Allesch, and another duel that saw Tatsiana Likhtarovich score 30 points while Bre Gunnels had 31 points for the opposition. It was a similar story in Iceland where Tinna Alexandersdottir had a 31 point game that was matched on the other side by Raquel Laneiro. Eve Braslis had a 35 point game and Brooklyn Pannell reached the 36 point mark.
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