World of Basketball December 9th

Asia

The series in Japan were on a Saturday-Sunday schedule as the Red Wave continued to lead after their sweep of the Wings. The other sweep saw the Sunflowers best the Antelopes. The Iris dropped a game further back of the lead when they lost to the Magic, but they did salvage a split. The Cougars got a surprise win, but could not finish the sweep after Dimaro Jessica Wariebimo Ere grabbed 22 rebounds for the Sunshine Rabbits. The series format resumed for the second division this weekend and the Koalas and Vickies are still tied for the lead after sweeps over the Aranmare and Queen Bees respectively. The Egrets did pick up their second win of the season, but the Rabbits did salvage the split.

There was one series in the top division in Kazakhstan on a Sunday-Monday schedule and Astana Tigers easily swept Ertis. Their second division started another set of single site games on Friday with Zhetisu sitting in the lead and Karaganda looking for their first win. Anastasia Knaub had 22 and 23 rebound games for Astana’s reserve team.

Another full week of games in South Korea started with BNK’s win over Woori Bank on Wednesday. The S-Birds pulled back into a tie with Hana Bank at the bottom of the standings after a win in their matchup on Thursday. BNK won again when they played the Stars on Friday. Saturday’s game would determine which team would sit in second place for now and it was Woori Bank that edged out the Blue Minx. Hana Bank put the space back between themselves and last place with a win over the Stars on Sunday. BNK completed a perfect week on Monday after Sonia Kim-Ursu had 30 points in their win over the upset-minded S-Birds.

New Zealand

It was the last week of the regular season in New Zealand and the Pouakai grabbed the top seed with their win over the Queens on Friday, reversing the result of their reserve league game. The Hoiho finally had their season end after two big losses on Saturday. The Kahu won the reserve game on Sunday, but lost to the Queens in the main game on a day where Chloe Forster played over 40 minutes.

Around Europe

The Central European league had their second pod of games this weekend and Piestanske Cajky remains undefeated. Valeriane Ayayi had a 14 point, 11 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in the Czech league. Ana Saric had a 31 point game, but Triglav is still winless along with Graz. It was a also a busy week in the European league with Sam Breen and Serena Manala turning in 32 point games. In Switzerland’s domestic league, Shannon Ryan had 33 points and 25 rebounds to get her team a win over Mykea Gray’s team despite her 32 points.

Valeria Lisii had 31 points and 22 rebounds in Moldova’s cup and her teammate Evelina Poltavet also had 31 points. The cup started in Iceland and Randi Brown had a 31 point, 15 rebound, 12 assist triple-double while Abby Beeman accomplished it with 21 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. Brittany Dinkins had 30 points in a narrow win after scoring 41 points in league play in a loss as Amandine Toi turned in her own 41 point effort and Maddie Sutton had an 18 point, 24 rebound, 17 assist triple-double. Graceann Bennett had 20 rebounds in the Greek Cup. Asiah Dingle had 31 points and 10 steals in the Croatian cup while Tamia Lawhorne had 34 points in a league game that had Karolina Skare saw 33 points for the opposition.

Chase for Promotion

Edremit increased their lead in Turkey’s second division by a game and then there were big statlines as Zakyia Weathersby had 33 points and 20 rebounds. Danielle Adams was the leading scorer with 38 points and Keiunna Walker had 35 points. Jana Dinic had 33 points in a win in Serbia’s second division that saw Marija Kostic score 30 points in the loss. Sienna Durr had a 36 point game in Portugal’s second division. Marina Bertane had a 32 point game in Latvia’s second division. San Giovanni Valdarno was handed their first loss in Italy’s second division while Udine was back all alone in the lead in the loss column in the other group, although Ragusa has a points deduction to overcome. Maja Manten had a 22 rebound effort in Germany’s second division. Helena Jakovljevic dished out 17 assists in France’s second division.

It was a busy week in Ukraine’s second division with all the teams playing series and Kateryna Shtyk had a 21 point, 10 rebounds, and 11 assist triple-double followed by a 31 point game. Anna Yarosh and Anastasia Shepeliuk had 31 point games and Alisa Yagodka grabbed 23 rebounds in a game. here were quite a few big statlines in Lithuania’s second division as 14 year old Kotryna Grunkyte had 30 points. Gabriele Valaityte grabbed 20 rebounds in a game and Enrika Matiukaite bested that with 22 boards. Kamile Ziedelyte had 30 points and Brigita Gudelionyte had 32 points and 20 rebounds. Faith Simpson turned in multiple big games in Romania’s second division, but none were bigger than her 36 point, 26 rebound effort.

Notable Individual Performances

Taya Robinson had a 31 point game in Romania. Natalie Villaflor had a 32 point game in Norway. Richelle Van Der Keijl had a 30 point game in the Netherlands. NaJai Pollard had a 30 point game in Israel. Marina Fernandez had a 15 point, 11 rebound, 11 assist triple-double in the British league. Audrey Warren had a 30 point game in Finland. Dasia Thornton had a 21 rebound game in Cyprus. Natasa Sobot had a 32 point game in the Bosnian league. Anamaria Virjoghe had a 20 rebound game in Belgium. Bernada Rreshpja had 34 points in Albania.

A double round week in Portugal included a 30 point game from Jade Compton and a 20 point, 12 rebound, 11 assist triple-double from Catarina Mateus. There were several good games in Malta as Janai Crooms had 34 points in a game that saw Makaila Napoleon grab 20 rebounds in the loss and Janae Barnes had a 38 point game. Alexus Johnson had an incredible 42 point, 26 rebound, 16 assist, 11 steal quadruple-double in Luxembourg and Kyaja Williams had a 32 point game. Vivian Woo and Brailyn Joseph each scored 38 points in Kosovo.