Polish League Round 5
After a long international break, the league resumed on Saturday with Taylor Soule and Zaglebie Sosnowiec defeating Marissa Kastanek and Gdynia 82-77. The other game went to overtime and Emma Cannon and Polkowice withstood Torun’s charge to win 87-78. Both teams in the first game on Sunday were able to tweak their rosters over the break and it was Gorzow that got the better of Poznan 67-63. Batabe Zempare controlled the boards as Lublin ended the day with an 80-71 win over Bydgoszcz. The round ended on Monday with Sleza Wroclaw’s 71-53 win over Polonia Warszawa.
November 16
https://basketligakobiet.pl/mecz/178599/vbw-gdynia—-mb-zaglebie-sosnowiec.html
Arka Gdynia [77]: Kastanek 21 Jones 14/10r Hebard 14/9r Wrzesinski 11
Zaglebie Sosnowiec [82]: Soule 24/8r Borkowska 16/10r Jones 14 Nikitinaite 14 Kostourkova 2
https://basketligakobiet.pl/mecz/178600/energa-torun—kghm-bc-polkowice.html
Torun [78]: Kapinga Maweja 17/16r Wheeler 13 Mortensen 11 Ossowska 10 Stankiewicz 10/6a
Polkowice [87]: Cannon 22/22r/6a Jeziorna 18 Steinberga 15/9r Piestrzynska 14 Davis 10 Jespersen 1 Nielacna 0
November 17
https://basketligakobiet.pl/mecz/178601/enea-azs-politechnika-poznan—polskastrefainwestycji-enea-ajp-gorzow-wlkp.html
Poznan [63]: January 14/6r Skobel 13 Carter 11/11r Puc 2
Gorzow [67]: Gertchen 18/7r Tsineke 18 Walker-Kimbrough 12 Mikulasikova 7 Miller 2/14r
https://basketligakobiet.pl/mecz/178602/ks-basket-bydgoszcz-ekstraklasa-sp–z-o-o—-polski-cukier-azs-umcs-lublin.html
Bydgoszcz [71]: Keller 16 Michalek 13 Malawy 12 Porchia 10/7r Ebo 8/8r
Lublin [80]: Szymkiewicz 18/7a Zempare 16/21r Miskiniene 14/8r Kulinska 14/6r Stanacev 10/7r/7a
November 18
https://basketligakobiet.pl/mecz/178598/1ks-sleza-wroclaw—skk-polonia-warszawa.html
Sleza Wroclaw [71]: Ryan 19 Hjern 15/7r Winkowska 12 Mielnicka 10 Nunn 7/9r Strautmane 5
Polonia Warszawa [53]: Moore 12/10r Nicholson 5/9r
Standings:
1. Polkowice 5-0
2. Lublin 4-1
3. Sleza Wroclaw 3-2
4. Arka Gdynia 3-2
5. Zaglebie Sosnowiec 3-2
6. Gorzow 2-3
7. Poznan 2-3
8. Torun 2-3
9. Polonia Warszawa 1-4
10. Bydgoszcz 0-5
World of Basketball
Asia
The top division in Japan had their usual Saturday-Sunday series setup, including the Antelopes sweeping the Magic to keep them firmly in last place. The Iris fell back a game from first place after the Sunshine Rabbits salvaged a split with a 22 rebound game from Dimaro Jessica Wariebimo Ere. The Red Wave got a sweep even though Izoje Uche had a 35 point effort for the Magic in the opener. The Sunflowers also dropped a game behind the lead after the Wings earned a split. The lower division did not have a series format this weekend after the first round-robin had been completed and the Vickies are alone in the lead over the Koalas while the Egrets are winless.
There were three series in Kazakhstan including the two teams at the bottom of the standings and Ertis picked up their first wins of the season with a narrow sweep of Aktobe. Astana took over first place after handing Okzhetpes their first two losses after Ganna Rulyova’s 21 rebounds sealed a sweep. The last series was also on a Friday-Saturday schedule and Caspiy swept Turan.
Another week of games started on Wednesday with the Stars edging Woori Bank. The Blue Minx climbed out of last place on Thursday with a win over the S-Birds. The Stars defeated Hana Bank on Friday. BNK stayed undefeated, but got a tougher test than expected from the S-Birds on Saturday. Woori Bank won on Sunday against Hana Bank and then the Blue Minx continued their streak on Monday with a win over the Stars.
The season started in China over the weekend as the level of excitement for the competition increased after the latest round of expansion was accompanied by an increase in foreign players spots from one or two to three for all teams. As usual, that means that multiple active WNBA players are playing in the league. Addressing the issues with parity last season, the league divided teams into two halves that will only have games between the teams in each group based on strength to avoid having so many mismatches. We will cover the league as best as we can, but if their website was more easily globally accessible, they would be one of the main leagues for us.
New Zealand
Another round started on Thursday with the Kahu winning the first reserve game, but losing the main game to the Queens. The Pouakai won both games against the Whai on Friday. The Queens won the reserve game on Sunday, but the Hoiho finished the round with a win in the main game.
Around Europe
The Baltic resumed play over the weekend and Mia Loyd had a 38 point game in a win. Other cross-national leagues will return in earnest in the upcoming week. Alina Radevic managed to get the minimum needed for a triple-double in under 20 minutes in Montenegro. Vivian Woo had a 30 point game in Kosovo while a terrific battle saw Jeanae Terry’s 35 points and 22 rebounds come in a loss as Tanyia Gordon had 40 points in the win. Kadri Uiga had a 21 rebound game in Estonia. In Bulgaria, Yuliyana Valcheva had 33 points and her teammate Ralitsa Kenareva dished out 17 assists. Jelena Tadic had 30 points in a loss in the Bosnian league. Bernada Rreshpja had a 32 point game in Albania and Tea Jace recorded a 11 point, 11 rebound, 10 assist triple-double.
Chase for Promotion
Zakyia Weathersby was the leading scorer in Turkey’s second division with a 32 point game. Nadja Lukic had a 31 point game in Serbia’s second division. Jenna Mastellone had a 37 point game in Portugal’s second division while Nazare Lopes had 20 rebounds. Milda Sauliute had a 15 point, 15 rebound, 14 assist triple-double in Lithuania’s second division. The two teams at the top of their halves of Italy’s second division met with Mantova edging Udine to take the lead. Birgit Snorradottir had a 33 point game in Iceland’s second division and then Danielle Shafer had a 30 point effort while her teammate Carlotta Ellenrieder had 22 rebounds. Sophia Nolan had a 33 point game in Germany’s second division.
Notable Individual Performances
Jessica Kelliher had a 30 point game in Sweden. Natalie Villaflor had a 30 point game in Norway. Milou Van Vliet had a 30 point game in the Netherlands. Ecaterina Tcacenco had a 32 point game in a loss in Moldova that saw Olga Tugui record a 25 point, 10 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in the win. Janae Barnes had a 46 point effort in a loss in Malta. In Luxembourg, Mikayla Ferenz had a 34 point game while her teammate Carmen Gfeller had 20 rebounds and Alexus Johnson grabbed 23 boards in her game. NaJai Pollard had a 32 point game in Israel. Diamond Battles had a 33 point game in Iceland in a game that saw Maddie Sutton grab 20 rebounds in the loss and Jasmine Dickey had a 40 point game. Jade Loville had a 35 point game in Greece. Paige Robinson had a 33 point game in Germany. Taru Tuukkanen had a 35 point game in Finland as she approaches her 47th birthday. In the Czech League, Alena Hanusova had a 31 point game and Valeriane Ayayi recorded an 18 point, 11 rebound, 10 assist triple-double. Eleni Mavroudi had a 11 point, 11 rebound, 11 assist triple-double in Cyprus and Dasia Thornton had a 23 rebound game. Cate Reese had a 42 point game in Belgium.
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