Asia
The Empress’s Cup was awarded in Japan with the last three rounds being played. On Wednesday, the Magic upset the Antelopes and then the Sunflowers knocked out Hakuoh University, the last college team. The other quarterfinals were played on Thursday with the Red Wave defeating the Wings and then the Iris defeated the Sunshine Rabbits. Ramu Tokashiki had 31 points to pace the Sunflowers in the first semifinal on Saturday against the Magic and the Iris defeated the Red Wave in the other game. The Iris dominated Sunday’s final against the Sunflowers, sending a message for league play as well.
Another week of play in South Korea started on Wednesday with a Stars win over Hana Bank. The Blue Minx used a big fourth quarter to defeat BNK on Thursday. Park Ji-Su had 31 points on Friday to lead the Stars past the S-Birds. Woori Bank matched them on Saturday with a win over Hana Bank. Sonia Ursu-Kim had 22 rebounds on Sunday, but the S-Birds lost to BNK. Park Ji-Su had 24 rebounds on Monday, but the Stars fell out of first place with a loss to the Blue Minx.
After having all teams in the first division last season, Kazakhstan returned to a two division format that start play over the weekend. There are five teams competing, consisting of three independent clubs, one of their reserve teams, and a reserve squad from one of the top division teams. All games were played in Schuchinsk, which will also host the next set of top tier games. Karaganda and Zhetisu, which defeated its own reserve team, won both games. Aydana Kasenova had an 18 point, 11 rebound, 10 steal triple-double.
The big surprise of another busy week in China was Sichuan’s loss to Zhejiang, which put Inner Mongolia back in the lead on its own. Zhejiang then lost to Guangdong in their next game to hurt their chances of chasing them down for a bye. Fujian being in a tough stretch of their schedule has pushed them further from playoff contention, especially as Liaoning defeated Hubei to create a small cushion for the last spot.
Around Europe
Riga is still cruising in the Baltic, but their junior team was in the battle of winless squads on Wednesday and Jurmala got 30 points from Zozefine Sipolina to get on the board and were further defeated on Monday when Anita Mikelsone had 20 rebounds. Vilte Andrunaviciute had 38 points to score enough points on her own to win a game in Lithuania’s second division. The top division teams entered the cup in this round played over the weekend and Becca Wann-Taylor had 20 rebounds to help her team advance. The cup was awarded over the weekend in Moldova as Irina Nebesnaia grabbed 20 rebounds to help her team win a semifinal on Saturday, but even 31 rebounds could not get her team the win on Sunday. Cyprus had an unusual event on Saturday when players from the men’s and women’s leagues played in a coed all-star game. Partizan defeated Red Star in Serbia’s big rivalry game.
Chase for Promotion
Danielle Adams was the leading scorer in Turkey’s second division with 34 points, followed by Aliyah Mazyck’s 33 points, and Gizem Karakurt’s 30 points. Lauren Ebo grabbed 25 rebounds. Chanell Williams had a 31 point game in Germany’s second division and Helena Nagele topped that with 40 points to help her team win in overtime while Tatum Koenig had 30 points. Olivia Nash had 30 points in the Northern half.
Notable Individual Performances
Kiara Bell grabbed 21 rebounds in Switzerland. There were some big games in Sweden over the weekend as Taya Corosdale had 32 points, a mark that Tiffany Brown also reached, Jessica Kelliher had 20 rebounds, and Tess Amundsen had 31 points. Kristyna Brabencova had 31 points, but her team could not stay among the leaders in Slovakia. Andrine Bergseth had 30 points in Norway. Marlou De Kleijn had 31 points in an overtime loss in the Netherlands. Kristy Galea had 31 points in Malta, where only one of the games could be played as scheduled. Samantha Logic had an 11 point, 15 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in Luxembourg while Esmeralda Skrijelj grabbed 20 rebounds. Mar’Shay Moore had 31 points this week in Kosovo and Saranda Daci had 21 rebounds. Lauren Manis had 39 points in Greece while Morgan Jones had 32 points to get her team an overtime win. Sam Breen had 35 points in Finland, which Da’Nasia Hood topped the next day with 37 points. Lana Packovski had 33 points in Croatia while Karmen Cicic hit the 32 point mark. Ajla Hidic had 30 points in the Bosnian league.
Women's Basketball News and Opinions 