World of Basketball February 3rd

Asia

Another week of games in South Korea started on Wednesday and the Stars defeated the S-Birds to stay in the playoff hunt. Thursday’s game took two overtimes to complete and Sonia Ursu-Kim had 31 points to help BNK recover for the win over Hana Bank. An excellent showdown on Friday had Woori Bank get the win at the Blue Minx. Sonia Ursu-Kim had another 30 points on Saturday, but BNK lost to the Stars. Hana Bank is still firmly in last place, but got a win over the Blue Minx on Sunday. Woori Bank defeated the S-Birds on Monday to finish the week.

Since the last set of games in Kazakhstan, Aqtobe withdrew both their men’s and women’s teams. There were two sets of series this week with Turan sweeping Caspiy with wins on Thursday and Friday. Astana is in first place and got a sweep over Ertis, the team now stuck in last place, with wins on Saturday and Sunday.

Mexico

Another weekend of games was played in Mexico with four series in total on a Saturday-Sunday schedule. Dragonas continued their excellent start with a sweep of Toritas. Mieleras stayed perfect with their sweep of Avispas. Mineras played their first games, losing both to Libelulas. Universidad Modelo made their debut, winning both games against the Husky’s.

Around Europe

The latest pod of games in the European league was played in Ostrava and the hosts had an easy win over Frankivsk on Friday. Frankivsk also lost on Saturday, this time to Polonia Warszawa, and then Ostrava defeated Polonia Warszawa on Sunday. There were a couple of big statlines in the Adriatic as Karolina Skare had 30 points and Leticia Soares had 32 points. In Croatian league play, Nina Rodek had 17 assists while Emilija Podrug had 29 rebounds in an overtime win. Margarita Chipova had 32 points in Bulgaria’s league. The Czech-Slovak cup was contested in Brandys nad Labem and it was Piestanske Cajky that edged KP Brno for the crown while Ruzomberok defeated Chomutov for third place.

Chase for Promotion

Doniyah Cliney was the leading scorer in Turkey’s second division with 36 points followed by Kurstyn Harden, who had 31 points, while Mariah Perez grabbed 20 rebounds. Mya Burns had 25 rebounds in Portugal’s second division. Daniele Pakulyte and Neringa Birietiene each outscored the opposition in Lithuania’s second division after the visitors only managed 18 points, but they did win their next game afrer getting 20 rebounds from Aurelija Jurkiene. Amaiquen Siciliano had 34 points in Italy’s second division. Jonina Karlsdottir dished out 17 assists in Iceland’s second division. Maren Durant had 20 rebounds in Germany’s second division. Binta Drame had 30 points in France’s second division.

Notable Individual Performances

In Switzerland, Aleah Nelson had 32 points and Shannon Ryan had 20 rebounds. In Sweden, Johanna Prytz had 32 points while a showdown had Jessica Kelliher scoring 36 points only to see Laura Stockton score 34 points in the win. Natalie Villaflor had a 31 point game in Norway. League play resumed in Moldova and Xenia Alfiorova had 28 points to outscore the opposition’s 18 points while her teammates hit the boards with Ecateriana Saramciuc grabbing 21 rebounds and Ecaterina Mosanskaia securing 20 rebounds. Olesia Malashenko grabbed 25 boards in Malta. In Kosovo, Caterrion Thompson had 30 points while Saquita Joyner had 32 points while her teammate Jeanae Terry recorded a 12 point, 13 rebound, 15 assist triple-double. In Iceland, Amandine Toi had 31 points and Abby Beeman had 30 points. In Greece, Sha Carter had 30 points in a game where Jessica Shepard grabbed 21 rebounds in the win. Taylah Simmons had 30 points in an overtime win in Germany.