World of Basketball November 4th

Asia

All the series in Japan’s top division were on a Saturday-Sunday schedule and the Sunflowers got 30 points from Saori Miyazaki in the second game to finish a sweep of the Cougars. The Magic salvaged a split over the Wings to stay above them in the standings. The Iris were nearly stunned in the second game, but stayed undefeated and kept the Antelopes winless after a sweep. The Red Wave lurk behind them after a sweep of the Sunshine Rabbits. The second division started with a Thursday-Friday series that had the Rabbits handing the Vickies their first loss for a split. The Koalas are tied for first place now after grinding out a pair of wins over the Egrets. The other Friday-Saturday series had Niang Kumba scoring 38 points in a loss, but the Aranmare got one win over the Queen Bees after Suzuno Higuchi had 35 points in an overtime encounter.

Two series were played in Kazakhstan with Okzhetpes getting the sweep over Ertis in a Tuesday-Wednesday affair between an undefeated team and a winless team. Astana Tigers looked to be matching them after a win on Wednesday, but Caspiy bounced back on Thursday with their first win coming at home. The second division started play with Atyrau hosting all the teams for the first round-robin. With top division teams allowed to field reserve squads, Astana’s Darya Tsukanova had 31 points to put in the highest scoring performance. Tomiris was the only team to win their first three games.

The first full week of the season started on Wednesday with BNK’s win over the Blue Minx to give every team one game played. On Thursday, the Stars defeated the S-Birds and then Hana Bank got a win over the Blue Minx on Friday. Kim Dan-Bi’s 34 point effort was not enough for Woori Bank on Saturday and BNK won. Hana Bank won again on Sunday, this time over the S-Birds. Kim had another 30 points on Monday, but this time it was enough for Woori Bank to defeat the Blue Minx.

New Zealand

This round started with a Thursday game and the Kahu won the reserve game before rolling in the main game, giving Krystal Leger-Walker the opportunity to play over 40 minutes that night. The Whai bounced back on Saturday, edging the reserve game and defeating the Hoiho more decisively in the main game. The Pouakai had a pair of comebacks on Sunday to sweep the Queens.

Around Europe

It is still early in the main Adriatic competition, but Maribor has already finished a round-robin in the second division with an undefeated record. Natasa Radovic had a 11 point, 10 rebound, 11 assist triple-double in Montenegro. In Croatia, Milica Sirovina had a 32 point game and then an exciting battle had Lea Miletic score 31 points, but Asiah Dingle’s 35 points helped her team get the win. Hibernians grabbed the preseason cup in Malta as Mikayla Brandon had 26 rebounds in their win over Luxol.

Chase for Promotion

Turgutlu edged Canakkale to form a three-way tie in Turkey’s second division with Kirklareli two games behind undefeated Edremit. Yacine Diop had 37 points in an overtime loss and Ceren Akpinar scored 31 points in an overtime win. Pilar Valderrabano had 30 points in a loss in the Spanish third division and her group only has one defeated left in Logrono. Jana Dinic had a 20 rebound game in Serbia’s second division. 15 year old Ioana Velcea had a 31 point game in Romania’s second division. Catarina Lopes had 20 rebounds in Portugal’s second division. Cristina Osazuwa had a 20 rebound game in Italy’s second division. Carlotta Ellenrieder had a 21 rebound game in Iceland’s second division.

Notable Individual Performances

Shannon Ryan had a 42 point game in Switzerland while Sam Breen had a 31 point effort. Jessica Kelliher had a 37 point game in Sweden. Raegan Bradley had a 30 point game in Norway. Jayla Johnson had a 31 point game in Kosovo. In Iceland, Denia Davis-Stewart grabbed 21 rebounds, Alexis Morris had 33 points, and Maddie Sutton recorded a 14 point, 23 rebound, 10 assist triple-double. Morgan Jones had a 31 point game in Greece. Shanique Lucas had a 31 point game in the British league. Cassidy Mihalko had a 37 point game in Germany. In Finland, Audrey Warren had 34 points, Carmen Tyson-Thomas had a 20 point, 15 rebound, 11 assist triple-double, and Saana Kujala had 30 points. Katariina Rongelep recorded a 18 point, 12 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in Estonia.