Asia
Aqtobe quickly wrapped up their semifinals series in Kazakhstan with a win at Tomiris on Tuesday to finish the sweep. The other series was much closer though even though Turan won decisively on Wednesday to take the lead. Astana bounced back on Thursday to tie the series again and set up a deciding game on Sunday. Homecourt advantage did not end up making much of a difference with Turan escaping with the last win.
The first two games of the finals were played in Taiwan this weekend. The top seed Taiyuan Textile took the first game on Saturday as they tried to maintain their dominance. Getting to win their home jerseys on Sunday helped Cathay Life though as they won emphatically to tie the series. The championship will be determined in the coming week and now there will definitely be games on at least Thursday and Saturday with a final game on Sunday if necessary.
Japan had an additional All Star weekend after the season this year and, as collaboration between the leagues is increasing, included representatives from the Korean league in the skills competition. The games started on Friday with two different East versus West matchups won by the West squads. The main game was the matchup on Saturday and East had a fourth quarter comeback to get the win over West.
Australia
It was another busy week in the South conference of NBL1 and the fireworks started early with Stephanie Reid scoring 42 points in a Frankston Blues win. Chloe Bibby had 36 points to help the Ballarat Miners win against the Keilor Thunder, which got 35 points from Penina Davidson. Shaneice Swain had 34 points, but Geelong was surprised by the struggling Kilsyth Cobras. Megan McKay had 33 points, but the Bendigo Braves lost to the Mt. Gambier Pioneers as both teams figure to be contenders at the end of the season.
The Rockingham Flames won the battle of the two remaining undefeated teams in the West conference over the Joondalup Wolves. The South West Slammers are the only winless team after the East Perth Eagles exploded in overtime thanks to 34 points and 20 rebounds from Mary Baskerville to defeat the Mandurah Magic. Anne Zipser grabbed 21 rebounds in a game for the Goldfields Giants while Ash Isenbarger had a 31 point effort for the Perry Lakes Hawks.
A potent combo is developing in the North conference for the North Gold Coast Seahawks as Miela Goodchild had 40 points and Mikaela Ruef had 25 rebounds. Alex Fowler had a 35 point game for the Townsville Flames. In the East conference, Lauren Jackson was unstoppable again for the Albury Wodonga Bandits with 43 points and 22 rebounds. Vanessa Panousis had a 33 point game for the Sutherland Sharks and Nicole Munger had a 21 rebound game for the Newcastle Falcons. Eva Langton had a 35 point game for the Norwood Flames in the Central conference.
There was another full round of games in North West Tasmania on Tuesday. The leading scorer was Tayla Roberts with 33 points for the Latrobe Demons in a decisive win over the Burnie Tigers. Olivia West had 30 points to keep the Devonport Warriors even with them in the loss column after a win over an Ulverstone Hoppers team that dressed six players. The Wynyard Wildcats are right behind the lead after a win over the Smithton Saints. The Somerset Heat have a tough path to get into the top half now after missing a chance to pull into a tie with Penguin Blues.
Amanda Paschal had the highest scoring game in Big V’s top division this weekend with 35 points while Alicia Carline grabbed 20 rebounds in a game. Indi Spratt had the highest scoring game in the lower division with a 33 point effort while Kelly Foster and Kylah Collins both had 30 point games with Foster’s happening in their head-to-head matchup. Maddi Geislinger and Candice Rogers had had 21 rebound games. Emmie O’Nial had a 11 point, 20 rebound, 10 assist triple-double.
Americas
The championship was awarded in Mexico this week. After earning a split on the road, Libelulas was hoping for momentum at home on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first game was close in the first half before the hosts built a lead, but Mieleras dominated the fourth quarter to win. Libelulas had the edge in the first half as they faced elimination, but they could not force a deciding game after Mieleras seized the lead after halftime to complete an impressive season with a title.
That was a timely transition to Mexico’s other national league that started play on Thursday. The league had been a big story last season after expanding to eleven teams, leading to the possibility that it would have more teams than the WNBA in time for their third season of operation. That did not end up happening with the league instead having three clubs not field teams while one did, leaving five clubs only fielding men’s teams, although one of them will not be fielding a men’s team either in the upcoming season. This could change next year with a plan to fine any club that only fields a men’s team.
The league format is the same this year with teams playing two games series in the same venue, almost always on consecutive days. The first series to conclude saw Aguascalientes defeating Tamaulipas for the second straight day. The other series on a Thursday-Friday schedule had Xalapa salvaging a split on the road at Monterrey. Veracruz won both games of the Friday-Saturday series at Irapuato. The last series ran Saturday-Sunday and Chihuahua sealed the sweep with Danielle Adams pouring in 36 points in the second game, helping them offset 33 points from Mar’Shay Moore for Leon.
Tuesday’s game in Brazil was a Campinas win over struggling Catanduva. Tassia Carcavalli had 31 points on Thursday to lead Santo Andre to a win over Ponta Grossa. There were two games on Friday and Catanduva stopped their slide with a win over Sao Jose and then Campinas edged Corinthians. The last game of the week was on Saturday with Melisa Gretter dishing out 16 assists in Blumenau’s win over Santo Andre.
Around Europe
Top seed Uniao Sportiva tied the finals in Portugal with an overtime win on Wednesday, but Benfica clinched the championship on Sunday, finishing a series where the road team won each game. Tayler Bennett had 36 points in an overtime win to send her team to the finals in Malta. The semifinals continued in Iceland with Njardvik getting a sweep that included a win behind a 24 point, 10 rebound, 10 assist triple-double. On the other side of the bracket, their next opponent will be decided in the upcoming week, although Denia Davis-Stewart did have a 30 point, 23 rebound effort in a loss. The championship in Germany came down to one deciding game on Wednesday and Berlin completed their climb to the summit, defeating defending champions Keltern, the last team to complete an ambitious ascent from the lower divisions. Tirana won the championship in Albania after their Game 4 win over Flamurtari on Friday.
Chase for Promotion
The last four teams in contention for the final spot in the top division in Spain met in Estepona this weekend to determine the winner. The hosts eliminated Zamora, the team that had the best finish to the regular season, in Saturday’s opener and then Joventut Badalona sent Paterna packing. Estepona led in the first half on Sunday, but Badalona used a strong second half to join Ardoi in being promoted. The two teams that would climb to the top division in Germany were determined this weekends, but both series went the distance. In the end, it was the two teams that finished at the top of their divisions winning against the teams that placed third with Rotenburg defeating Bochum and former powerhouse Wasserburg making their return after getting past Bad Homburg. The playdowns also finished and MTV Stuttgart finished at the bottom of the South and Lichterfelde finished at the bottom of the North.
Sanjoanense has already secured a spot in Portugal’s second division, but they clearly also want to win the playoffs, getting 38 points from Ke’Vonshaye Stackhouse to get to the finals that start next week, facing Vagos, which grabbed the other promotion spot with their sweep. Tatsiana Likhtarovich had 32 points in the last matchup of the games to determine which clubs will have spots in Luxembourg’s top division next season. Teams in Italy continued trying to climb out of or stay in the second division. In the playout, Sara Zanetti had a 30 point effort, but it was not until the next game that Rovigo secured their spot. Celia Fiorotto had 22 rebounds in an overtime loss that knocked Ponzano out of the playoffs.
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