Asia
The semifinals were played in Japan this weekend and both series ended up needing deciding games on Monday. An exciting game saw the Iris recover from a poor third quarter to edge the Red Wave. The Antelopes had a more decisive win over the Sunshine Rabbits.
The last two series were played in the regular season in Kazakhstan on a Saturday-Sunday schedule. Astana finished as runaway leaders after a sweep of Caspiy. Behind them, Okzhetpes swept last place Zhetisu.
It was the last full week of games in South Korea, starting with Hana Bank edging Woori Bank on Wednesday. The Stars defeated the Blue Minx on Friday in their quest for the top seed. Hana Bank won Saturday’s first game against BNK and then the S-Birds continued to play well down at the end of the season after locking up last place with a win over Woori Bank. Hana Bank defeated the Blue Minx on Sunday. The first two teams to finish the regular season did so on Monday as the Stars defeated BNK.
The playoff started in China after a long holiday and national team break. There were games played during that time as there was a cup competition with not every player available and teams took it to varying degrees of seriousness. Last weekend was the All Star Game and the related festivities. All of the time off has allowed teams to make signings for the postseason, bringing in a number of star players who had not been in the league up to this point. Eight teams started the chase for the championship and defending champions Guangdong have already been eliminated as they went with continuity over the late season change favored by other teams. Teams are also competing to determine who will start with spots in the upper group next season as the format dividing teams by strength is scheduled to continue.
Another pod of games was played in Taiwan as Cathay Life completed another undefeated week, followed by Chunghwa Telecom, Taiyuan Textile, and Taipower. Huang Hsiang-Ting had the highest scoring game with 33 points.
Americas
There is one game left in the regular season in Argentina, meaning that the playoffs are pretty much set and will start this weekend.
The championship was determined on Tuesday in Mexico. Mieleras bounced back from a tough semifinal loss to defeat Toritas in the bronze medal game first. Mineras won the gold medal game with a strong second half as Dragonas tried to pull off a second straight upset.
Most of the series in the other league in Mexico were on a Thursday-Friday schedule. Leon salvaged a split with Cancun. Monterrey swept San Luis Potosi and Chihuahua swept Tamaulipas. Aguascalientes swept Irapuato in a Friday-Saturday series.
There were two games in Brazil on Wednesday as Campinas defeated Maringa. Jayla Crawford had 31 points and Connie Clarke recorded a 22 point, 11 rebound, 10 steal triple-double in Mesquita’s win at Uninassau. There were two more games on Thursday as Araraquara won at Sao Jose and Sampaio won at Santa Andre. Salvador defeated Mesquita on Friday and Campinas had a comeback win over Cerrado on Saturday. Sampaio coasted past Sao Jose on Sunday. Cerrado won at Maringa on Monday.
A very busy week in El Salvador started with two games on Tuesday, as Santa Tecla edged Monsenor Romero. Anisleidy Galindo grabbed 27 rebounds in San Salvador’s win over Ahuachapan. On Wednesday, Salvadorenas defeated Santa Ana and Metapan won at Capitalinas. Salvadorenas cruised past Capitalinas on Friday and Santa Ana got the win over Santa Tecla. Santa Tecla bounced back with a win over Ahuachapan on Saturday and Yenifer Jimenez had 30 points in Monsenor Romero’s win over Santa Ana, which got 21 rebounds from Ruth Aracena. Salvadorenas had an easy win over Ahuachapan on Sunday and Arlenys Romero led San Salvador with 30 points in a win over Metapan, which got 20 rebounds from Rachel Contreras. San Salvador also won on Monday, this time against Monsenor Romero, and Genesis Zavaleta had 37 rebounds in Santa Tecla’s win over Capitalinas.
Australia
After the Central conference started play last week, three more NBL1 conferences had their opening weeks. The South has teams across multiple states and Lil Dart had a 37 point game, which Maddy Rocci matched while adding 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the triple-double. Lou Brown grabbed 20 rebounds and Abbey Ellis had a 31 point game. Keely Froling had 36 points for the Northern Force, the newest team operating out of Tasmania.
The West conference started on Thursday with Chloe Forster scoring 31 points for the Warwick Senators in a win. Claire Jacobs scored 34 points for the Mandurah Magic the next day. Kim Pierre-Louis had 32 points in a loss for the Joondalup Wolves. The end of the round also included Sierra Moore scoring 33 points in a Goldfield Giants win as Mar’Shaun Bostic’s 22 points, 12 rebound, 10 assist triple-double was not enough for the South West Slammers.
The East conference started and included a 30 point game from Nicole Munger to wrap up the weekend for the Newcastle Falcons. Chantel Horvat had 37 points in a loss for the Sydney Comets and Unique Thompson had 30 points in a loss for the Albury Wodonga Bandits.
The week’s games in North West Tasmania were on Tuesday to accommodate that NBL1 start and there were more incredible statlines. Sharna Thompson had 51 points to lead Somerset to a win over Smithton, which got 21 rebounds from Rhonda Price. Ellie Collins had 40 points and 25 rebounds for Penguin, which defeated a Devonport squad that got 32 points from Gemma McCoy. Nikki Parker had 30 points in an Ulverstone win over Latrobe. Burnie breezed past Wynyard in the other game.
The top division of Big V started this week and featured a 31 point game from Zoe Zwerling for the Sherbrooke Suns. Viv Saad had 24 rebounds in a middle division game for the Craigieburn Eagles. Deja McKinney had a 31 point game in the lower division for the Surfcoast Chargers.
Around Europe
The final stage of the Adriatic was played this weekend and Montana edged Celje in the championship game after Buducnost defeated Partizan in the bronze medal game. The Portuguese Cup was awarded this weekend after Benfica defeated GDESSA Barreiro in the championship game. Athinaikos won the Greek Cup on Sunday after Proteas Voulas could not pull off a second straight upset. Sha Carter had 30 points for Panathlitikos in a semifinal loss. The series to determine who would retain a spot in the top division concluded on Wednesday with a fantastic deciding game that saw Amyntas outlast Volos.
Stephanie Visscher had a 30 point game as the playoffs started in Sweden. A double-overtime game saw Laura Zolper score 36 points and Dara Taylor deliver a 16 point, 13 rebound, 10 assist triple-double. Ariel Jones had 36 points to start the playoffs in Slovakia. Brittany Dinkins had 38 points to finish the regular season in Iceland and then had 35 points to the start the playoffs in a game that saw Maddie Sutton score 35 points for the opposition. Sara Puckett had 37 points in a playoff game in Finland. Maria Vasar had 31 points in a playoff game in Estonia. Valeriane Ayayi had a 13 point, 10 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in the Czech playoffs.
Chase for Promotion
In Turkey’s second division, Iggy Allen had 31 points and her teammate Bre Gunnels had 30 points. Kelly Chasse had 31 points in Spain’s third division. The end of the regular season in Serbia’s second division included a 33 point game from Tamara Ivkov and a 32 point game from Natasa Bucevac. Ines Capela had 32 points in Portugal’s second division and Marta Roseiro had 32 points. In Lithuania’s second division, young Eva Kavaliauskaite had a 31 point game in an overtime win and Laurita Jurciute had a 38 point game, which Lina Mikeleviciene matched in a loss. Ilaria Bernardi had 40 points in Italy’s second division and Emilie Brzonova had 30 points. Andrea Jovicevic had 31 points to finish the regular season in Iceland’s second division and Leilani Kapinus had a 35 point, 15 rebound, 10 steal triple-double. Taylor Robertson had 32 points in Germany’s second division and Delia Moore had 36 points in the other section while her teammates Maja Manten had 22 rebounds. Julie Tetart had 28 rebounds in France’s second division.
Notable Individual Performances
Annika Soltau had 21 rebounds to close out the regular season in Switzerland. Teams started finishing up their regular seasons in Serbia with big statlines everywhere as Jovana Popovic had the highest scoring game with 32 points. Ayana Emmanuel and Teodora Culibrk had 30 point games and Sanja Mandic dished out 17 assists. In North Macedonia, Elena Dinova had 30 points and Lauren Scott had 37 points. Esmeralda Skrijelj had a 14 point, 12 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in Luxembourg. Kate Vilka had a 32 point game in Lithuania. Play resumed in Israel and Yahel Jovanovic had 26 rebounds while Noor Kayuf had 31 points. Jordyn Jenkins had 30 points in Germany. In Croatia, Milica Sirovina had 20 rebounds and Lauren Wasylson had 30 points. Marija Damjanovic had 20 rebounds in the Bosnian league.
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