Americas
There were two deciding games on Tuesday in Puerto Rico’s quarterfinals. Isabela took care of business at home against Caguas, but it took a little bit more work for Moca to advance to join them after getting past Hatillo. The last deciding game was on Wednesday and there were no seeding upsets in this round after Manati defeated Carolina. The semifinals started on Friday and Leigha Brown had a 28 point, 13 rebound, 10 assist triple-double to get Moca an opening win over Isabela. Manati stole the first game on the road at Santurce on Saturday. Isabela evened up their series at home on Sunday. Manati fended off Santurce on Monday to move within a game of the finals, leaving the top seed on the ropes.
There were only three games in El Salvador this week, starting with Elianis Armenteros scoring 33 points in Santa Tecla’s narrow win over leaders San Salvador on Wednesday. They also got a close win on Friday, withstanding 33 points from Yenifer Jimenez for Ahuachapan. San Salvador bounced back with a win over Santa Ana on Saturday.
Stefania Lucero had the highest scoring game in Argentina this week with a 39 point outburst. Hindu suffered their first loss of the season so there are no undefeated or winless teams anymore.
The level of foreign player has greatly increased recently in Chile as the teams are separated into two geographical zones. This week, Alexus Johnson had a 15 point, 16 rebound, 12 assist triple-double and Manuela Rios had a 14 point, 10 rebound, 11 assist triple-double.
New Zealand
This round started on Thursday and the reserve game went to overtime before the Whai prevailed in the extra minute. The Kahu also lost the main game after falling behind early. The Queens got the win in Friday’s reserve game, but the Pouakai used a big first half to get the win in the main game. The Queens were in action again on Sunday, winning the reserve game and then finishing the sweep of the Hoiho.
Asia
There were two more splits in series in Japan this week with the Iris getting the second win against the Sunshine Rabbits and the Red Wave bouncing back against the Magic. The Sunflowers swept the Wings and the Antelopes swept the Vickies. The Cougars started lower division play with a sweep of the Rabbits. The Koalas salvaged a split with the Aranmare and the league newcomers got a split with a win over the Egrets.
The season in Kazakhstan started with the cup, but that is played without the team’s foreign players. The first regular season series was played this week on Friday and Saturday with Turan getting the home sweep over Zhetisu.
Around Europe
Another cross-national competition started this week as the six teams besides Ostrava in the Central European league played two of their six regular season games. Besides Czech and Slovak clubs, there is representation from Poland and Ukraine this year. Olga Yatskovets had 30 and 35 point efforts, but Ruzomberok could only split their games. Olivia Wikstrom had 31 points as the cup final approaches in Malta. Ksenia Alfiorova nearly scored enough points on her own to win on opening day in Moldova with 36. The first game of the regular season was played in the British league with cup play also happening this weekend.
Chase for Promotion
It was a double-round week in Turkey’s second division and Dre’Una Edwards had 35 and 33 point games while Brittney Byrd had 35 points and Dekeiya Cohen had 21 rebounds to close out the weekend. Mallorca in the only team in Spain’s second division that is undefeated now while Castello is looking for their first win as Linda Van Schaik had a 30 point game. Milica Dimitrijevic recorded a 15 point, 12 rebound, 13 steal in Serbia’s second division. In Portugal’s second division, Sienna Durr had 42 points to lead her team to an overtime win and followed it up with 44 points in a cup loss while Cristina Freitas had 31 points. Dunja Vujovic had 20 rebounds in Italy’s second division. A double-round week in Iceland’s second division saw Chloe Wilson follow up a 33 point effort with 22 rebounds while Jessica Tomasetti poured in 40 points and then had a 25 point, 19 rebound, 10 assist triple-double. Julie Tetart had 23 rebounds in France’s second division.
Notable Individual Performances
Manca Vrecer had 30 points in Slovenia. Liv Nord had 31 points in a game in Sweden. Janai Crooms scored 32 points in Serbia. Lauryn Taylor grabbed another 21 rebounds in Romania. Lauren Golding had 32 points in Portugal. Milica Vujacic had a 21 point, 15 rebound, 13 steal triple-double in an overtime loss in Montenegro. Jovana Jaksic had 33 points in Luxembourg. Annija Anna Birzina had 23 rebounds in Latvia. Lauren Jensen had 31 points in Greece. Rim Taha recorded 10 steals in Denmark. Ja Harvey had a 27 point, 14 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in Albania.
Nia Clouden had 33 points in Switzerland and Maimouna Ba had 36 points in a game where Parker Hill had 21 rebounds for the opposition. Tinna Alexandersdottir was the leading scorer in Iceland with 32 points while Marta Hermida had 30 points and her teammate Maddie Sutton recorded a 26 point, 12 rebound, 11 assist triple-double. Saana Kujala had 31 points in Finland and then an overtime game had Sara Puckett score 34 points in the win with Jeanae Terry turning in a 12 point, 12 rebound, 14 assist triple-double. Kiara Jackson had the highest scoring game in Croatia with 30 points while Sam Deem had 21 rebounds in an overtime game and Brooke Flowers grabbed 23 rebounds. In the Bosnian league, young players had scoring outbursts as Anida Smaka had 35 points and Andjela Bekic had 31 points.
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