Approaching a holiday break for many New York Liberty players competing across the globe, there were a lot of impressive performances and big wins.
Perhaps the most critical matchup of the week was Rebecca Allen and Good Angels as they battled to advance through to the Eurocup Round of 16. Allen’s squad faced a must-win against Olympiacos, whom they lost to earlier in the season, but this time they grabbed the victory 72-59, with 7 points from Allen, keeping their season alive.
In China, Tina Charles continued to perform as the most dominant player in the league, leading Sichuan to a pair of wins while averaging 45.0 ppg last week. She still leads the league in scoring and rebounding, increasing her margin in both categories.
Shavonte Zellous and Kiah Stokes saw their 3-game winning streak come to an end in Turkey, although both had strong games for Besiktas in the loss to Galatasaray. Zellous had 26 points, while Stokes narrowly missed out on another double-double with 9 points and 16 boards. Tanisha Wright’s team Abdullah Gul moved to 5-2 in Turkish League play as she scored 9 points with 3 assists in a win over Mersin, and they finished Eurocup group action with a perfect 6-0 mark.
Carolyn Swords helped Basket Gdynia secure two more wins, as she averaged 21.0 ppg in two victories last week, helping keep her team on a role.
In Russia, Epiphanny Prince and Dynamo Kursk dispatch Familia Schio 79-75 in Euroleague action, and eased past Kazanochka 111-53, with Prince scoring 11 points with 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Amanda Zahui B and Orenburg lost to UMMC in Euroleague action, its first setback in group play this year, but bounced back to beat Dynamo M., as Zahui drained 3 3-pointers to score 17 points in the win.
LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Shavonte Zellous – Besiktas
Shavonte Zellous did a little bit of everything for Besiktas this week, although her team dropped a match to Galatasaray in the Turkish league. Zellous finished with 26 points, nailing 3-of-6 shots from 3-point range in addition to grabbing 6 rebounds, with 4 assists. It was one of her best offensive games of the season, and one where she really showed off the ability to convert from deep.
WCBA (0-2, Ranked 4th-Group C)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #31 T. CHARLES (China) | 11 | 37.9 | 142 | 312 | .455 | 11 | 35 | .314 | 76 | 95 | .800 | 17.5 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 35.7 |
Tina Charles continues to dominate the WCBA, leading her team to two victories this past week, as she averaged 45.0 points and 22.5 rebounds per game in wins over Shandong. In the 1st game of the week Charles posted 44 points and 19 rebounds, following that up with an even more imressive double-double of 46 points and 26 rebounds. She continues to lead the WCBA in scoring and rebounding, as through 11 games she is averaging 35.7 points and 17.5 rebounds per contest. This week, Charles and Sichuan will play a pair of games against Liaoning (Kelsey Bone).
Slovakia-Extraliga (12-1, Ranked 1st)
Eurocup Group D (3-3, Ranked 2nd)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #5 R. ALLEN (Slovakia) | 12 | 19.5 | 50 | 88 | .568 | 18 | 31 | .581 | 21 | 26 | .808 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 14.6 |
| #5 R. ALLEN (EuroCup) | 6 | 24.3 | 12 | 33 | .364 | 9 | 21 | .429 | 16 | 23 | .696 | 6.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 11.2 |
Thanks to a victory over Olympiacos Rebecca Allen and Good Angels have advanced to the Eurocup Round of 16 in the new year. They needed a win to escape the group stage, and got exactly that with a 72-59 decision. Allen had 7 points in the victory, and also made a big impact on the defensive end, blocking three shots. Later in the week, Kosice continued to dominate the Slovakian League, picking up a 65-59 win over 3rd place MBK Ruzomb. Allen was in double figures in the win with 13 points. Her 14.6 ppg ranks 5th in Slovakia, and she is also 2nd in the league in blocked shots with 1.2 per game.
Poland-TBLK (5-7, Ranked 8th)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #30 C. SWORDS (Poland) | 11 | 27.5 | 76 | 129 | .589 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 27 | 34 | .794 | 11.3 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 16.3 |
| #30 C. SWORDS (EEWBL) | 2 | 25.5 | 19 | 24 | .792 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 11 | 12 | .917 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 24.5 |
Two more wins this week for Carolyn Swords and Basket 90 Gdynia as her team improved to 5-7 overall and moved up to 8th place in the Polish League standings. Swords scored in double figures in both games, but had her bigger performance in the 80-61 win over JAS FBG on the 17th, scoring 24 points with 12 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. She also scored 18 points in the win over Widzew, logging just 17 minutes of action. Averaging 16.3 ppg in Poland, she ranks 6th in the league in scoring, and her 11. 3 rpg comes in 2nd in the league. Swords will play one more league game in 2016 before taking a holiday hiatus for two and a half weeks.
Russia-PBL (10-1, Ranked 2nd)
EuroLeague Group A (6-0, Ranked 1st)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #10 E. PRINCE (Russia) | 10 | 24.9 | 26 | 60 | .433 | 4 | 13 | .308 | 10 | 14 | .714 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 7.4 |
| #10 E. PRINCE (EuroLeague) | 6 | 28.7 | 21 | 36 | .583 | 0 | 7 | .000 | 6 | 8 | .750 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 8.0 |
Epiphanny Prince and Dynamo Kursk continue to just roll through Russian League and Euroleague competition, grabbing two more wins this week to near the midway point of Euroleague action with an unblemished record. Kursk edged Familia Schio 79-75 to improve to 6-0 in Euroleague group action, with Prince scoring 7 points with a couple of assists. Later in the week as Dynamo Kursk moved to 10-1 in the Russian Premier League, Prince had her best performance of the week with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. With that, Prince moved up to 8th in the Russian League with 3.8 assists per game. Kursk has now finished competition until it resumes Euroleague play on Jan. 4.
Russia-PBL (9-2, Ranked 3rd)
Euroleague Group B (5-1, Ranked 2nd)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #17 A. ZAHUI B (Russia) | 10 | 20.1 | 50 | 82 | .610 | 5 | 11 | .455 | 21 | 23 | .913 | 4.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 13.6 |
| #17 A. ZAHUI B (EuroLeague) | 6 | 25.8 | 29 | 55 | .527 | 1 | 12 | .083 | 15 | 18 | .833 | 7.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 12.7 |
Amanda Zahui B and Nadezhda Orenburg had another showdown with UMMC, this time in Euroleague play, and UMMC (Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner) prevailed 88-59 to take sole possession of 1st in the Group B standings approaching the midway point of group action. Zahui B had 13 points and 5 rebounds in the game. Orenburg bounced back to beat Dynamo M. 73-57 on Monday, and Zahui B showed off her range in the win. She finished with 17 points, knocking down 3 shots from 3-point range, with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks, doing a little bit of everything. Her 13.6 ppg in Russia ranks 7th in the league. Zahui B and Orenburg are now off until the resumption of Euroleague play against Avenida on Jan. 4.
Turkey-KBSL (5-2, Ranked 3rd)
EuroCup Group B (6-0, Ranked 1st)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #30 T. WRIGHT (Turkey) | 7 | 34.1 | 31 | 75 | .413 | 3 | 8 | .375 | 24 | 30 | .800 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 13.6 |
| #30 T. WRIGHT (EuroCup) | 6 | 29.0 | 34 | 54 | .630 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 16 | 20 | .800 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 14.0 |
A pair of victories last week for Tanisha Wright and Abdullah Gul as they wrapped up Eurocup group play with a perfect 6-0 record, and maintained its 3rd place standing in the Turkish League table by easing past Mersin MBK. In the win over MBA in the final Eurocup group game of the year, Wright finished with 8 points and 3 steals in 23 minutes of action. Later in the week, Wright had 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in that win over Mersin. She is averaging 13.6 ppg in Turkish League Play and 14.0 ppg in Eurocup games. Her 5.6 assists per game rank 8th in Turkey. Kayseri is back in action against Galatasaray on Dec. 21.
Turkey-KBSL (3-5, Ranked 10th)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #2 S. ZELLOUS (Turkey) | 8 | 36.1 | 36 | 102 | .353 | 8 | 26 | .308 | 26 | 32 | .813 | 4.9 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 15.3 |
Despite 26 points from Shavonte Zellous, Besiktas was unable to push its winning streak to four in a row, as they suffered a 74-62 loss to Galatasaray. Zellous was hot from deep, hitting 3-of-6 3-point attempts, and she also grabbed 6 rebounds with four assists, improving her scoring average to 15.3 per game with 4.9 boards and 2.9 assists per contest. Zellous and Besiktas will play twice this week, next against Girne University on Dec. 21.
Turkey-KBSL (3-5, Ranked 10th)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #41 K. STOKES (Turkey) | 4 | 37.0 | 18 | 33 | .545 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 9 | 11 | .818 | 16.5 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 11.3 |
A week removed from being named the Turkish League Player of the Week, Stokes turned in another impressive performance for Besiktas against Galatasaray, but finished one point shy of another double-double as her team saw its three-game winning streak snapped with a 74-62 setback. Stokes scored 9 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and also hauled in a game-high 16 rebounds. Through four games in the Turkish League she is averaging a double-double of 11.3 points and 16.5 rebounds per game, and is leading the league in rebounding, a full 3.6 boards per game ahead of second place Courtney Paris. Stokes and Besiktas are back in action against Girne University on Dec. 21.