Americas
Both teams were looking to move within a game of the finals on Tuesday as the semifinals continued in Puerto Rico. Moca jumped out to a big lead to take care of business against Isabela at home. Santurce needed to win at home on Wednesday to avoid elimination and were finally able to get past Manati. Isabela needed a win at home on Thursday to extend their season, getting 30 points from Sha Carter to fend off Moca. Manati did not want to risk visiting Santurce for a deciding game, knocking out the top seed on Friday. That left one deciding game on Saturday and Leigha Brown was brilliant for Moca, scoring 41 points to send them past Isabela.
There were more games in El Salvador this week, starting with 40 points from Yenifer Jimenez not being enough for Ahuachapan in a loss to San Salvador on Tuesday. Santa Tecla’s late bid to climb above Santa Ana in the standings on Thursday came up just short. Monica Aristondo had 31 points and 12 steals to help Ahuachapan prevail this time on Friday against Capitalinas. Salvadorenas got the win over Santa Tecla on Saturday. Aristondo was at it again on Sunday, pouring in 37 points in a win over Salvadorenas.
Parity continues to rule in Argentina with another busy week of games. Stefania Lucero had the highest-scoring game with 33 points followed by 32 points from Agustina Marin. Maria Jourdheuil had a 20 rebound effort.
New Zealand
The round started on Friday with the Hoiho losing the reserve game, but decisively defeating the Pouakai in the main game. The Queens won the reserve game on Saturday against the Whai and then Kristy Wallace had 30 points to secure the sweep. The Pouakai only fielded five players in the reserve game to give themselves the ability to bring imports off of the bench, conceding that game to the Kahu, but winning the main game.
Asia
There were three sweeps in Japan’s top group as the Iris defeated the Vickies, the Magic defeated the Wings, and the Antelopes defeated the Sunflowers on a Saturday-Sunday schedule. The other series was Sunday-Monday with the Sunshine Rabbits earning a split against the Red Wave. In the lower group, the league newcomers swept the Rabbits and the Aranmare swept the Egrets in the Saturday-Sunday series. The Queen Bees swept the Koalas in a Sunday-Monday series.
All the teams in Kazakhstan have started their seasons now as Barsy swept Caspiy on Wednesday and Thursday. The other two series started Monday with Astana winning at Ertis and Okzhetpes winning at Turan.
Around Europe
The season-opening cup competition final was on Sunday in Malta and it was quite a close game, but Starlites was able to edge Luxol, which got 21 rebounds from Olivia Wikstrom. The highest scoring game in the Adriatic came from Gergana Ivanova with a 31 point effort. League play started in Bulgaria this weekend. The projected top three teams in Greece are fielding strong lineups this season, but Panathinaikos now has the advantage on both of their competitors after an overtime win over Olympiacos. Two other games went to overtime as Morgan Maly had 39 points in a win and Serena Geldof grabbed 20 rebounds to secure a victory.
Chase for Promotion
In Turkey’s second division, Mary Baskerville had 32 points and Miya Crump recorded a 27 point, 12 rebound, 10 assist triple-double. Natasa Bucevac had 30 points in a loss in Serbia’s second division. In Portugal’s second division, Sienna Durr had 31 points and Hannah Pratt had 20 rebounds. Lina Mikeleviciene had 30 points in Lithuania’s second division. In Iceland’s second division, Tanja Osk Brynjarsdottir was the leading scorer with 34 points, Lee’Sha Henry grabbed 23 rebounds, and Leilani Kapinus grabbed 21 rebounds. Marta Miscenko had 20 rebounds in Germany’s second division. Montbrison suffered their first loss in France’s second division to leave three teams tied at the top of the standings.
Notable Individual Performances
Julianna Okosun had 33 points in a game in Sweden. Dunja Buzadzin had 34 points in Serbia. Ines Faustino had 31 points in Portugal. Alexis Poole had a 31 point game in North Macedonia. Lexi Wagner had 31 points in Montenegro. Xenia Alfiorova had 41 points to nearly secure a win on her own in Moldova. Jovana Jaksic had 31 points in Luxembourg. Maria Mongomo had 30 points in the British league. Sarah Puckett had 32 points in Finland. Hanna Maria Sibul had 34 points in Estonia. Rim Taha recorded a 17 point, 14 rebound, 16 assist, 11 steal quadruple-double in Denmark. Bendu Yeaney had 31 points in Croatia.
In Switzerland, Koi Love had 31 points and Enisa Semanjaku had 30 points. In Norway, Maren Mildestvedt had 31 points and Mari Stewart had 34 points. In Kosovo, Paige Powell’s 33 points were not enough as Audrey Jennings had 32 points in the win while Alexis Mead had 30 points in another game. The two highest scoring efforts in Israel were in the same game as Evina Westbrook had 35 points, but Mihaela Lazic had 32 points in the win and Shyanne Sellers had 31 points in a different game. In Cyprus, Dajah Daniel had 30 points while Rahmena Henderson had 37 points in a loss.
A double-round week in Iceland meant some huge statlines as Molly Kaiser had the highest scoring game with 44 points. Abby Beeman had a 23 point, 12 rebound, 11 assist in a narrow loss and Marta Hermida had 32 points in a loss. There were two games that featured scoring outbursts on both sides as Amandine Toi had 34 points while Jada Guinn had 37 points in the loss. Brittany Dinkins had 34 points to help nullify Keishana Washington’s 30 points.
Leave a Reply