World of Basketball April 1st

Asia

The playoffs started on Saturday in Japan with the first two days being single-elimination at a single site. The Magic eliminated the Wings in the first game and then the Sunshine Rabbits rolled past the Cougars. The Magic looked like they would run out of steam against the well-rested Antelopes on Sunday, but had a great second half to advance. The Sunflowers eliminated the Sunshine Rabbits to also advance to the semifinals, which will be in a best-of-three series format at a single site next weekend.

The Stars tied the championship series in South Korea on Tuesday thanks to a 37 point, 20 rebound from Park Ji-Su, but that set up two games on the road. Woori Bank used a strong second half to take the series lead again on Thursday and then secured the title on Saturday by getting the better of the second half again.

A new stage started in Taiwan this weekend and teams were integrating foreign players into their rotations in anticipation of the postseason. Cayla George had 22 rebounds in her second game, but Cathay Life lost their last game to Taiyuan Textile to take the lead in the standings. Taiwan Power lost to Chunghwa Telecom so they did not have any wins this weekend.

The quarterfinals were played in China this week with the top four seeds entering in this round. They were on the road for the first games on Tuesday and all of them won except for Jiangsu. The top seeds hosted on Friday and would also host Sunday if necessary and Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, and Guangdong finished sweeps over Shandong, Shanxi, and Shanghai. Jiangsu avoided elimination with a comeback win over Zhejiang and then prevailed on Sunday to advance.

Australia

Joining the Central conference, the West conference started NBL1 play on Thursday for teams from Western Australia. Notable performances included a 31 point game from Jewel Williams, a 37 point game from Stacey Barr, and a 31 point game from Brooke Malone. With her father coaching the Lakeside Lightning this season, Teige Morrell had 31 rebounds in an overtime win.

In North West Tasmania, Devonport edged Wynyard, which got a 11 point, 13 rebound, 11 assist triple-double from Zoe Mesman. That result left them all alone in the lead after Tuesday with Penguin losing at Burnie. Smithton remains winless after losing to Somerset, which got 31 points from Bailie Wickham and 30 points from Zoe Drane, a number enough to tie the hosts on their own.

Brazil

There were two games in Brazil on Tuesday as Gabriela Guimares grabbed 20 rebounds in Ituano’s win over Ponta Grossa and then Corinthians defeated Mesquita. Neither game on Wednesday was close as Sampaio rolled past Sao Jose and Araraquara scored more than double the points that Catanduva did. Ituano got the win on Thursday over Blumenau. Friday’s game was close with Campinas getting past Corinthians. Sampaio won against Santo Andre on Saturday. Glenda Cruz had 30 points on Monday to lead Blumenau to a win over Catanduva.

Around Europe

The regular season was completed in the unified competition and Bashkimi finished with a perfect record while Prishtina will host the finals that will feature the three teams from Kosovo and Tirana from Albania. The two eliminated teams faced off to close out their campaigns and Asia Henderson had 30 points in the loss. Riga finished a perfect campaign in the Baltic after a win over LCC International University in the championship game while Neptunas defeated Kibirkstis for third place. Other teams in Lithuania continued their domestic games and Cassidy Mihalko had a 33 point game. The championship was determined in Ukraine with Frankivsk defeating Kyiv in the final and Rivne getting past Interkhim for third place. Celje finished a perfect regular season in Slovenia.

The semifinals in Switzerland saw Abigail Fogg score 32 points and then withstand a 36 point game from Amaya Scott to advance and Marjorie Carpreaux had a 10 point, 13 rebound, 12 assist triple-double in an overtime win for her team to advance. The semifinals started in Romania and 38 points from Borislava Hristova was not enough for a win while Biljana Pesovic had a 22 point, 10 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in a consolation bracket loss. Becca Wann-Taylor had 33 points to start the playoffs in Portugal, but the top four seeds all came away with wins on the road. Angela Tompkins had 30 points and Jennie Simms had a 10 point, 16 rebound, 11 assist triple-double to help their team advance to the finals in Israel. Frieda Buhner had a 31 point game in Germany to keep her team’s season going. The quarterfinals finished in Finland and Carmen Tyson-Thomas had 36 points and Da’Nasia Hood had 33 points in clinching games for their teams. Leeza Burdgess had a 20 rebound game in the Czech Playout.

Chase for Promotion

Anna Nikolaeva had a 20 rebound game in Ukraine’s second division. The playoffs started in Turkey’s second division and Botas’s reserve team was the only road team to win, prevailing in overtime despite a 39 point game from Chanel Mokango. Aliyah Collier helped Bodrum win with a 46 point game, Zakyia Weathersby had 20 rebounds in Edremit’s win, and Aliyah Maczyk had 33 points to help her team win. Sarah Bennett had a 30 point, 20 rebound game in Portugal’s second division. The playoffs started in Germany’s second division with teams from the North and South divisions playing against each other. Kayla Simmons had a 30 point game for South top seed Wasserburg, Shannon Ryan had a 40 point game for the North top seed, Olivia Nash had a 37 point game in one of two road victories, and Kate Hill had 34 points in a tough loss. The regular season finished in France’s second division, including a 14 point, 10 rebound, 11 assist triple-double for Binta Drame and the playoff matchups are set for the lone spot in the top division.

Notable Individual Performances

Andjela Jekic grabbed 22 rebounds in Serbia. Natalija Spaic had a 33 point game in Montenegro. Samantha Logic dished out 20 assists to finish the regular season in Luxembourg. In the lower group, Bre Gunnels had 31 points and Tatsiana Likhtarovich had 30 points. Danielle Rodriguez had a 13 point, 13 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in Iceland. Pinelopi Pavlopoulou had a 32 point game in Greece and Morgan Jones had 31 points in an overtime loss. Keandra Koorits had a 23 rebound game in Estonia. Nikolina Zubac had a 37 point game in Bulgaria. In the Bosnian league, Ajla Hidic had a 36 point game and Estefani Fajardo had a 33 point game.