Americas
The semifinals started in Brazil on Thursday with the same format as the last round. The team that finished lower in the standings hosted first before the team that finished higher in the standings will the next game on Monday and the deciding game if necessary. Top seed Sampaio won their game at Campinas by building a lead before halftime. Araraquara may have finished below Ituano in the standings, but were not necessarily considered underdogs and they just edged their way to a win in their home game.
It was the last week of the regular season in Mexico and one series was on a Wednesday-Thursday schedule with both teams mired in the middle of a giant pack of teams that had plenty of possibilities in playoff seeding. Veracruz could have sealed the last hosting spot with a sweep, but instead lost twice to Tamaulipas, which got 31 points from Shaylee Gonzales in the first game, the best effort of her short time as a rookie there. Xalapa was locked into the third seed, but they did not take it easy on Irapuato, mounting a massive comeback to win the first game on Thursday and then finishing the sweep on Friday. The last two series were on a Friday-Saturday schedule and Leon tried to end the season on a winning note despite being well out of the playoff picture and Khari Clark had 20 rebounds in the first game, but Aniya Thomas had 34 points to lead San Luis Potosi to a win and they had an easy time finishing a sweep. Top seed and defending champions Chihuahua won the first game easily, but needed overtime to complete the sweep after Destiny Slocum poured in 34 points for Aguascalientes.
In Puerto Rico, there was a very thrilling game on Friday when Jullie Ruiz had 32 points, but fouled out, leaving Yauco to push through two overtimes before finally getting the win. The All Star game was played on Saturday and Southeast dominated the fourth quarter with Ruiz pouring in 28 points to defeat Northeast. League play quickly resumed on Sunday and Kineysha Mercado had 33 points to help Guaynabo get past Toa Alta, which had Lyann Lopez matching the 33 points. A game with tons of rebounding opportunities even before overtime had Brandy Tweed grabbing 29 boards and Idaliz Padilla securing another 24 boards, but Vega Baja had a tough loss.
Australia
In the NBL1 South conference, the Keilor Thunder no longer lead in the loss column after falling to the Dandenong Rangers, leaving the Knox Raiders in the lead by a game in the win column. Shaneice Swain had 30 points in a Geelong win while Lily Scanlon had a 30 point game for the Eltham Wildcats, who are also holding their playoff positioning. The Frankston Blues split a pair of games with Lauren Scherf providing 35 points in the win while Chelsea D’Angelo’s 35 points could not prevent a loss.
The Northside Wizards lost for the first time in the North conference, giving up 30 points to Leah Scott to let South West Metro Pirates leave with the win. The two other big scoring outbursts came in losses with Mia Loyd’s scoring 39 points for the Cairns Dolphins and Lil Dart having 31 points for the Brisbane Capitals.
Two of the teams at the top of the standings in the West conference met and the clash lived up to expectations. It was a close game throughout, but Neseya Parker-Williams had 31 points to make sure that the Rockingham Flames left with the win over the Cockburn Cougars. The Perth Redbacks had their star duo at their best in an easy win getting 34 points from Anneli Maley and 33 points from Natalie Chou.
In the East conference, the Albury Wodonga Bandits remained perfect with Mikayla Pivec picking up another triple-double with 23 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists. The round started with Davida Dale recording a 28 point, 13 rebound, 10 assist triple-double for the Sydney Comets, which won another game behind Shyla Heal’s 36 points. Madeleine Norris had a 33 point effort in a win for the Sutherland Sharks.
The top two teams in the Central conference lost as the North Adelaide Rockets fell in overtime despite 40 points from Brooke Basham. The Central Districts Lions lost to the Sturt Sabres, which also won on Sunday to take a lead in the win column after tying up the loss column. The Woodville Warriors could not climb out of last place, getting a 30 point, 12 rebound, 10 assist triple-double from Holly Forbes, but coming up short in overtime.
In Big V, Bellarine had the chance to move into a tie for the lead, but lost to Wyndham in a close game and then lost again to fall further behind the pace. The highest scoring game in the division came from Megan Ormiston after she scored 33 points in Hume City’s loss. Shannon Powell-Ross had a 25 point, 13 rebound, 10 assist triple-double as she played every second of Warrandyte’s overtime win in the lower division to stay in the top spot. Kylah Collins had 20 rebounds for Wallan.
Puerto Rican Draft
The main league in Puerto Rico will begin in August, but the draft was held last week with the nine teams participating in the three round affair to assign rookies with ties to the island to their new clubs. Teams could pass and could not make additional picks after filling their rosters so four picks were not made. This draft is the first after the new salary cap was agreed upon in April so national team level players can earn up to $8,000 while DI players can earn up to $6,000, DII players can earn up to $4,000, and players below those college levels would earn between $2,000 and $3,000 over the course of the entire season.
First Round:
1. Lares – Mariah Perez (Dayton)
2. Isabela – Kaelynn Satterfield (Seton Hall)
3. Hatillo – Ahlana Smith (Mississippi State)
4. Santurce – Gabriella Zapata (Austin Peay)
5. Moca – Vianca Malave (UPR-Mayaguez/Yauco {LBPF})
6. Lares – Cydney Rivera (Detroit Mercy)
7. Manati – Stephanie Torres (Lincoln [MO])
8. Lares – Yandeliz Rivera (Carolina {LBPF})
9. San German – Geovana Rios (Lincoln Memorial)
Second Round:
1. Lares – Joyce Hernandez (Carolina {LBPF})
2. Isabela – Beverly Guevara (UPR-Bayamon)
3. Morovis – Carla Colon (UPR-Bayamon/Arecibo {LBPF})
4. Santurce – Chiara De Virgilio (Seattle Pacific/Carolina {LBPF})
5. Moca – Nellzybeth Soto (Morovis {LBPF})
6. Hatillo – Karina Rodriguez
7. Lares – Caroline Crespo (UPR-Arecibo)
8. Carolina – Kimicha Fort (Catano {LBPF})
9. San German – Lorraine Vazquez (Adjuntas {LBPF})
Third Round:
1. Lares – No pick (full roster)
2. Isabela – Hillary Guevara
3. Morovis – Passed
4. Santurce – Soliyimar Baez (Hatillo)
5. Moca – Kiara Lopez
6. Moca – Neyshmarie Lopez (Isabela {LBPF})
7. Manati – Passed
8. Carolina – Passed
9. San German – Annais Delgado (PUCPR)
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