Turkish League Round 25 February 17th-19th
The round started on Saturday with Cukurova being unable to contain Gintare Petronyte and Kayseri kept themselves in the middle of the playoff hunt with a 67-53 win. On Sunday, Nathalie and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough helped Cankaya University go on an incredible rally in the fourth quarter to defeat Michaela Onyenwere, Goksen Fitik, and Orman 78-75, a result that could save them at the end of the season. That result also meant the official end for Nuran Tutsak and Hatay’s attempts to come back from last season after their 124-69 loss to Alaina Coates, Emma Cannon, and Nesibe Aydin. Fenerbahce had to be extra careful in choosing their lineup against their other city rivals and Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride were excellent in their 100-91 win over Dana Evans, Elif Bayram, and Besiktas. NaLyssa Smith led Galatasaray in a 99-70 win over Antalya. Khadijiah Cave and Tarsus could not get a win that would have helped them greatly, falling to Jaime Nared and Izmit 93-80. Bursa brought back Chennedy Carter in order to try to take the last safe spot, but lost to Lyndra Weaver and Botas, which moved into the last playoff place, 77-66 on Monday.
February 17
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2023-2024/mac-detay/197394/istatistik
Cukurova [53]: Williams 12/10r Atas 12/6r Cornelius 7 Kiss 5
Kayseri [67]: Petronyte 28/20r Hamby 17/11r/6s Ellenberg-Wiley 16 Holmes 4
February 18
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2023-2024/mac-detay/197395/istatistik
Orman [75]: Onyenwere 20/11r Fitik 20/6a Dantas 12/9r Sutton 10/6r/7a
Cankaya Universitesi [78]: Fontaine 27/9r Walker-Kimbrough 22/8r/7a Oral 10 Yalcinkaya 9/10r McCarty-Williams 8
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2023-2024/mac-detay/197398/istatistik
Hatay [69]: Tutsak 24 Taskin 18/10r Kutlu 13/8r
Nesibe Aydin [124]: Coates 30/9r Cannon 23/13r Akalan 17/8r Bilgic 14/8a Yilik 12 Cayir 10/9r Zec 7/6r Thomas 0/12a
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2023-2024/mac-detay/197396/istatistik
Fenerbahce [100]: Collier 31/10r McBride 24 Uzun 13 Meesseman 10/6r Anderson 7
Besiktas [91]: Evans 35/7a Bayram 22/11r Li 10/14r Lazic 9 Krivacevic 9
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2023-2024/mac-detay/197393/istatistik
Galatasaray [99]: Smith 21/15r Ben Abdelkader 16/6r Hines-Allen 14/6r Vanloo 14/14a McCowan 12
Antalya [70]: Bone 19 Brown 16/7r Lucet 13 Henderson 8
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2023-2024/mac-detay/197397/istatistik
Izmit [93]: Nared 31/11r/6a Hillsman 15/9r Ivanova 15 Cora 14/7a Calhoun 10
Tarsus [80]: Cave 21/8r Robinson 18/11a Bul 16/8a Davis 14/16r
February 19
https://tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl-2023-2024/mac-detay/197399/istatistik
Botas [77]: Weaver 22/8r Mack 13/6r/6b Kurtulmus 13 Allen 11/6r/13a Reimer 11/6r
Bursa [66]: Carter 21/9r Sarr 18/8r Baptiste 15/10r Williams 10/6r
Standings:
1. Fenerbahce 24-0
2. Orman 17-7
3. Izmit 16-8
4. Galatasaray 16-8
5. Besiktas 15-8
6. Cukurova 14-10
7. Nesibe Aydin 12-11
8. Botas 11-12
9. Kayseri 10-13
10. Emlak Konut 10-13
11. Antalya 9-14
12. Tarsus 7-16
13. Bursa 7-16
14. Cankaya Universitesi 7-16
15. Hatay 0-23
World of Basketball
Asia-Oceania
Another full week in South Korea started with an unexpectedly close game on Wednesday between last place and first place, but the Stars still won against BNK. Woori Bank showed that there is still a gap between them and the Blue Minx after winning on Thursday. The Stars also won on Friday against Hana Bank, then BNK defeated the S-Birds on Saturday, and the Blue Minx defeated Hana Bank on Sunday. The Monday game saw Park Ji-Hyun score 33 points to help Woori Bank take advantage of the Stars missing their big star to win against the league leaders.
The long break was over in China with teams making roster moves to get ready for the stretch run and the playoffs. The big games started right away over the weekend with new look Sichuan defeating Inner Mongolia as the two teams will battle for the top seed. Liaoning now holds the edge in the win column for the last playoff spot.
It was a two-round week in North West Tasmania. Zoe Mesman grabbed 22 rebounds on Tuesday while Amber Brazendale grabbed 21 rebounds on Saturday. Somerset won both their games while Smithton lost twice and the other six teams split their pair of games.
Mexico
It was a double series week in Mexico with the teams also playing Tuesday-Wednesday as well as Saturday-Sunday. Mieleras won both midweek games against Toritas to continue leading the South while Cinnamon picked up their first win after salvaging a split at Blueskas. Mineras handed Libelulas their first loss in the North after grabbing a split, leaving a tie at the top with Quetzales, which swept Husky’s. Libelulas grabbed the lead back over the weekend with a sweep of Quetzales, withstanding a 32 point game from Clenia Noblet. Also in the North, Toritas swept Husky’s to pick up their first two wins. Mineras swept Cinnamon in the inter-zone series despite a 20 rebound game from Yedid Soria. Mieleras swept Avispas to stay perfect in the South. The U18 National Team split their series with Blueskas.
Around Europe
All the games in the Albania-Kosovo competition were cross-country matchups and it was a sweep for Kosovo. Bernada Rreshpja had 32 points in the Albanian league to outscore her opposition. Teams are still chasing Riga in the Baltic with the big statistical games coming in Lithuania’s domestic competition as Cassidy Mihalko had a 38 point game and Deimante Zukaite had a 17 point, 12 rebound, 10 assist triple-double. Marta Plorina had 30 points in Latvia. The cup quarterfinals were played in Switzerland and Kiara Bell had 33 points and Marie Hunter had a 23 point, 10 rebound, 14 assist triple-double to help their team advance while Sara Loomis had 22 rebounds to help her team progress. The six remaining teams played the final stage of the cup in Slovakia and Slavia Banska Bystrica prevailed in overtime against Piestanske Cajky to lift the trophy. The schedule in Romania meant that the last two undefeated teams did not meet until this week and it was Constanta that grabbed the early edge on Sepsi. Panathinaikos won the cup in Greece, but could not complete the sweep later. AEL won the cup in Cyprus.
Chase for Promotion
Iustina-Gabriela Hurmuz had a 35 point game in Romania’s second division. In Portugal’s second division, Ke’Vonshaye Stackhouse had 32 points and Schekinah Bimpa had 21 rebounds. Michaela Porter had 36 points in Iceland’s second division, which Shameka McNeill matched, and Sianni Martin had 33 points. Sierra Smith grabbed 26 rebounds and Emese Vida had 22 boards. Sophie Perner had 30 points in a tremendous comeback win in Germany’s second division. A points deduction had dropped Nice into danger, but their win moved them to the top of a tie with Champagne Chalon-Reims and in a safe place for now in France’s second division.
It was a double round week in Turkey’s second division and Zonguldak had two narrow wins, ending up expanding their lead because of other results. Edremit had lost their first game, but won their second, withstanding a 35 point game from Aliyah Collier, who had 34 points earlier in the week, to stay tied with Bodrum two games off the lead. Kamaria McDaniel continued picking up ridiculous statlines, recording a 40 point, 14 rebound, 16 assist triple-double in her first game and pouring in another 42 points on Monday, but Danielle Adams also had 42 points to lead the opposition to victory.
Notable Individual Performance
In Sweden, Jessica Kelliher had 30 points and Kahlaijah Dean had 32 points. Dunja Buzadzin had a 35 point game in Serbia. Biljana Pesovic had a 17 point, 12 rebound, 11 assist triple-double in Romania. Becca Wann-Taylor had a 31 point game in Portugal. Natalie Villaflor had 33 points in a loss in Norway. Hinke Houben grabbed 21 rebounds in the Netherlands. The league in Moldova returned after a long break and Xenia Alfirova had 30 points, Crina Pricob had 31 points, and Irina Nebesnaia had 20 rebounds. Mia Loyd had 32 points in Luxembourg while Karly Murphy reached the 31 point mark. A double round week in Israel started with Eden Zipel delivering a 12 point, 10 rebound, 11 assist triple-double while Crystal Bradford just missed a quadruple-double in her first game, but managed a 13 point, 14 rebound, 11 assist in the second game. Chelsea Mitchell had a 32 point game and Courtney Hurt reached the 36 point mark. Korinne Campbell had a 31 point game in Iceland. IImar’I Thomas had a 41 point game in Finland. Emilie Larsen had 30 points in Denmark. A two-round week in the Czech Republic included 30 point games from Tereza Vyoralova and Alena Hanusova and a 22 rebound effort from Elissa Cunane. Emilija Podrug grabbed 25 rebounds in Croatia. Amna Kahric recorded 10 steals in the Bosnian league.
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