Arab Club Championship
Seven teams are contesting this year’s Arab Club Championship in Alexandria, a historically prestigious event in the region. The tournament being in Egypt led to significant representation from the country, starting with Al Ahly winning the opener on Thursday against Sharjah of the United Arab Emirates behind 31 points from Nadine Soliman. Sierra Moore had 30 points in the next game to lead Al Qadsiah of Saudi Arabia to a win over Al Fatat of Kuwait. It was two Egyptian teams to end the day and hosts Sporting Alexandria rolled past Gezira.
Al Fatat had an incredible start on Friday as Alexus Johnson ended up scoring 38 points. Nadine Soliman led Al Ahly again and their comeback was completed in the late in the third quarter and they ended up with the win. Al Qurain of Kuwait was the team with the bye on the first day and their debut was not ideal. The game started close, but Gezira ended up blowing them out after building up their lead. Sporting Alexandria finished the day with 30 points from Hagar Amer in their win over Al Qadsiah.
The first game on Saturday ended up having a great showdown between individuals. Rabeb Abidi’s 42 points helped Al Fatat get the win as 35 points from Aliyah Mazyck was not enough for Al Sharjah. It was another all-Egyptian battle in the next game as Al Ahly got the win over Gezira. Hagar Amer had another 30 points to close the day for Sporting Alexandria as they defeated Al Qurain.
After a day without a game, action resumed on Monday. Jana Elshamy had a great shooting day in the opener, finishing with 35 points to lead Gezira past Al Qadsiah. Al Sharjah defeated Al Qurain in the next game. The last game of the day was the anticipated meeting between the Egyptian teams that have had such a rivalry in recent years. Sporting Alexandria edged past Al Ahly as both teams look forward to a likely rematch when the tournament is on the line.
South Africa
The championship was decided this week in South Africa as the Tshwane Suns got wins over the Egoli Magic on both Friday and Saturday.
Uruguay
The semifinals continued this week as Defensor Sporting finished a sweep of Lagomar on Wednesday. They have to wait to find out their next opponent as Joaquina Gregorio had 30 points on Thursday to give Aguada the series lead, but Malvin stayed in contention with a win on Sunday. Yale finished their sweep of Cordon in the consolation bracket on Wednesday, but Urunday Universitario tied their series. Tabare recovered on Sunday though and got a decisive victory.
El Salvador
It was the first full week of the regular season in El Salvador as all teams have played now. Last weekend, San Salvador defeated Salvadorenas on Saturday and Emer Nichols had 31 points and 20 rebounds, but it was not enough for Ahuachapan as they lost to Monsenor Romero, which got 32 points from Yenifer Jimenez. On Tuesday, Vanessa Hernandez had 11 steals and Monica Aristondo had 10 steals as Santa Ana got the win over Capitalinas, which got 30 points from Natalia Castillo. Santa Tecla has only played one game so far, losing to Salvadorenas on Wednesday. Katherinne Rivas recorded a 26 point, 12 rebound, 10 assist triple-double on Thursday in a Monsenor Romero win over Capitalinas. San Salvador defeated Santa Ana on Friday and then there was a doubleheader on Sunday. Anisleidy Galindo grabbed 21 rebounds in San Salvador’s win over Monsenor Romero. Emer Nichols had 30 points and 25 rebounds, but Ahuachapan lost to Capitalinas.
Slovakia
It was an early start to the season in Europe with Slovakia’s Supercup being played on Thursday. The two teams that met in the league finals played this game with Piestanske Cajky starting this season on the right foot after losing a lead in the championship series and letting Ruzomberok grab the title last season.
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