Asia
The finals continued in Japan this weekend and both games ended up following a similar path. Both teams were looking to take the lead on Saturday after an opening weekend split and the Iris took the advantage in the fourth quarter after the score was tied heading into the final frame. The Antelopes had the lead by a point before the final quarter on Sunday as they tried to force a deciding game, but the Iris completely stifled them and had their own scoring explosion for a decisive win.
The quarterfinals started in Kazakhstan this week with Ertis defeating Caspiy on Friday and Saturday. Mariya Aristova had 20 rebounds to secure a road win for Barsy Atyrau on Sunday, but Turan won on Monday to tie the series. This pod of games in the second division concluded on Friday and featured a 34 point game from Anastassiya Chepel and a 20 rebound effort from Madina Biseshova.
The playoffs started in South Korea this week with the semifinals. The Stars swept Woori Bank with wins on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Hana Bank opened with a win on Thursday, but the Blue Minx got 34 points from Lee Hae-Ran on Saturday to even the series. They then won their first home game on Monday in overtime.
The finals are set in China after both semifinals ended in sweeps. Shanxi, which was the top seed in the regular season, will face Sichuan, which was upset at this stage last year and has not quite been as strong as expected in the regular season before loading up their roster for the playoffs.
After a week off, there was another pod of games this week in Taiwan and no team has been able to get the better of Cathay Life recently as they had another sweep. Taiyuan Textile finished behind them, followed by Taipower, and Chunghwa Telecom. There were a couple of big statlines, including Hsiao Yu-Wen having separate games of 30 points and 20 rebounds and a 32 point game from Jui Chen-Sung.
Americas
The playoffs started in Argentina and Berazategui was the only team to cause a seeding upset after eliminating Union Florida. Gisel Botta had a 20 rebound game.
The week in Brazil started with two games on Tuesday as Sao Jose defeated Uninassau. Jayla Crawford scored 31 points, but Mesquita lost to Araraquara. Sampaio’s big fourth quarter was enough for them to get the win over Campinas. Santo Andre defeated Uninassau on Thursday. Sao Jose coasted past Salvador in Friday’s game. Cerrado got the win over Mesquita on Saturday. It has been one of the better rivalries in recent seasons, but Sampaio had a fairly easy win over Araraquara. Santo Andre defeated Salvador in the other game on Sunday.
All of the series in Mexico were on a Thursday-Friday schedule this week, including Monterrey’s sweep of Leon. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had 32 points to finish Aguascalientes’s sweep of Tamaulipas. After a narrow opening win, Chihuahua swept Cancun. San Luis Potosi finished the day by earning a split with Irapuato.
All of the teams in El Salvador played two games this week, starting with a busy Tuesday. Anisleidy Galindo had 24 rebounds as San Salvador handed Salvadorenas their first loss. Heimy Lopez had 33 points and Maria Montero recorded a 15 point, 26 rebound, 17 assist triple-double to secure a win for Ahuachapan over Monsenor Romero. Leyda Macias had 31 points and Genesis Zavaleta had 22 rebounds in a narrow Santa Tecla win over Metapan. Santa Ana defeated Capitalinas in Thursday’s game and San Salvador defeated Santa Tecla on Friday before Salvadorenas bounced back against Monsenor Romero on Saturday. It was the same two stars for Ahuahuacan on Sunday as Lopez had 43 points and Montero had an 11 point, 16 rebound, 20 assist triple-double in their win over Capitalinas. Monica Aristondo had 36 points and 11 steals in Metapan’s win over Santa Ana.
The season started in Chile this weekend and Javiera Novion recorded a 17 point, 10 rebound, 10 assist triple-double in the opener. Martin Orellana scored 34 points in a win after Roxane Makolo had 31 points for the opposition.
Australia
A full week of games in NBL1’s North conference saw Lil Dart scoring 36 points for the Eltham Wildcats in a midweek game. Emma Clarke had a 30 point game for the Ringwood Hawks. Tilly Boler had 30 points to secure an overtime win for the Mt. Gambier Pioneers over the Diamond Valley Eagles, which got 30 points from Abbey Ellis.
The highlight in the West conference was certainly Anneli Maley’s 65 point outburst for the Perth Redbacks while Ruby Porter had 30 points in the loss for the Willetton Tigers. Jayda Clark had 30 points for the Warwick Senators and Claire Jacobs had 33 points for the Mandurah Magic.
The big game in the East conference had Unique Thompson providing 33 points and 20 rebounds to the Albury Wodonga Bandits, but they still lost. Mollie McKendrick had the highest scoring in the Central conference with 38 points for the Southern Tigers.
Big V resumed after a holiday weekend break and the top division included a 34 point game from Madeline Holland in an overtime loss and a 32 point game from Emily Suckling.
Most of the games in North West Tasmania were on Tuesday, including Devonport’s win over Ulverstone. Macey Crawford had 37 points for Burnie in a win over Smithton. Sharna Thompson had 35 points for Somerset in a win over Wynyard. The last game was on Thursday and Ava McDonald had 31 points for Penguin, but they lost to Latrobe with neither team having much of a bench available.
Around Europe
Budivelynk finished a sweep on Tuesday to win the championship in Ukraine. Fribourg defeated Geneve to win a cup in Switzerland. Nikolina Ilic had 31 points in the first game of the finals in Montenegro. Brittany Dinkins had 31 points to clinch a playoff series in Iceland, which Keishana Washington tried to do as well with 34 points before her team fell short. Emma Merriweather had 20 rebounds to help seal the deciding game for her team in the Czech playout.
Adryana Quezada had 31 points in a loss to start the playoffs in Luxembourg. Alexis Mead had 33 points to give her team the lead in the finals in Kosovo. In Israel’s playoffs, Jennie Simms had 23 rebounds, Yael Twito had 21 rebounds, and Gili Eisner had a 10 point, 11 rebound, 11 assist triple-double. Iva Sanseovic had 30 points in the playoffs in Austria. Olivia Wikstrom had 23 rebounds in Malta. Andrea Daley had a 35 point game in the British league. Andela Strize had 37 points in Croatia.
Chase for Promotion
With one round of games left in Turkey’s second division, there is a four-way tie for first place. Dre’Una Edwards had 30 points and 20 rebounds to put her team in that group and Mary Baskerville had 30 points for another one of the contending teams. The final series for a spot in Iceland’s top division started and Jada Guinn had 44 points to seal a win. The last round of the regular season in Germany’s second division included a 38 point game from Taylor Robertson and 20 rebounds from her teammate Marta Miscenko.
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