Approaching the end of 2016, not all Liberty players were competing last week as several were already headed towards their holiday break, and other wrapped up 2016 before getting a little time off heading into the new year.
The Turkish League does not take a brief break until later this week, so Tanisha Wright, Shavonte Zellous, and Kiah Stokes were still in action, racking up wins.
Wright played just once last week, helping Abdullah Gul grab a win and improve to 7-2 in Turkey. She had 11 points for her team in the victory. Zellous and Stokes both averaged double figures in two wins for Besiktas last week. Their team improved to 5-1 since Stokes joined the fray, beating Girne University and Botas last week with Zellous averaging 17.0 ppg and Stokes scoring 15.5 ppg, to go along with 14.5 rebounds.
Tina Charles played once for Sichuan, taking on Kelsey Bone and Liaoning in China. Charles scored 30 points with 27 boards in a 66-65 win, as the WCBA approaches the mid-way point of Stage 3 of the regular season.
Around the globe, Carolyn Swords and Basket Gdynia suffered an 85-68 setback in their last game of the year, despite 19 points and 9 rebounds from the Liberty center.
Epiphanny Prince and Amanda Zahui B are both off until 2017, and Rebecca Allen did not play in Good Angels final contest of the year.
LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kiah Stokes – Besiktas
Kiah continues to dominate since joining Besiktas in Turkey, helping her squad post two more wins last week, while putting up impressive numbers. As Besiktas beat Girne University and Botas, for the week Stokes averaged 15.5 points, 14.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 3.0 blocks per game, while shooting 14-of-20 (.700) from the field.
WCBA (1-3, Ranked 4th-Group C)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #31 T. CHARLES (China) | 12 | 38.1 | 152 | 336 | .452 | 11 | 38 | .289 | 86 | 107 | .804 | 18.3 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 35.3 |
Tina Charles played in just one of Sichuan’s games last week against Liaoning (Kelsey Bone) and helped lead them to a victory posting a dominant double-double of 30 points and 27 rebounds in 40 minutes of action. Charles shot 10-of-24 from the field and was also 10-of-12 from the line with 3 assists and 2 blocks. She is averaging 35.3 points and 18.3 rebounds per game, easily leading the WCBA in both categories. This week, Charles will face 1st place Heilongjiang (Crystal Langhorne) in a pair of games.
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 |
Rebecca Allen did not play on Good Angels’ final game of 2016, which was a decisive 89-32 win over UKF Nitra. She is averaging 14.6 points per game in Slovakian League Player. When action resumes for Kosice on Jan. 6 they will play a pair of games in the Eastern European Basketball League.
Poland-TBLK (5-8, Ranked 8th)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #30 C. SWORDS (Poland) | 12 | 27.1 | 82 | 137 | .599 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 34 | 41 | .829 | 11.1 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 16.5 |
| #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 |
Despite 19 points from Carolyn Swords, Basket Gdynia dropped its final game of 2016, 85-68 to fall to 5-8 in the Polish League before taking a holiday break. Swords shot 6-of-8 from the field in 22 minutes, also pulling down 9 rebounds. She is now averaging 16.5 points and 11.1 rebounds per game, ranking 6th in the league in scoring and 2nd in rebounding. Swords and Basket Gdynia return to action in the Eastern European Basketball League on Jan. 6.
Turkey-KBSL (7-2, 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) | 8 | 34.6 | 35 | 84 | .417 | 4 | 11 | .364 | 24 | 30 | .800 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 13.3 |
| #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 |
Two victories last week for Abdullah Gul, although Tanisha Wright suited up for just one of the games, helping lead her squad to a 60-56 victory over Galatasaray on Dec. 21. She finished with 11 points and a pair of rebounds in 38 minutes of playing time, and is now averaging 13.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game in the Turkish League. She did not play in Kayseri’s win over Girne University, as they improved to 7-2 overall, ranked 3rd in the Turkish League. Wright faces Botas on Dec. 29 before taking a break until Jan. 7.
Turkey-KBSL (5-5, Ranked 5th)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #2 S. ZELLOUS (Turkey) | 10 | 34.9 | 49 | 130 | .377 | 8 | 33 | .242 | 34 | 42 | .810 | 4.7 | 3.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 15.6 |
Still rolling for Shavonte Zellous and Besiktas, who are 5-1 over their last 6 games to improve to 5-5 in the Turkish League and move all the way up to 5th place in the league table. Zellous and Besiktas won twice last week, beating Girne University (Cappie Pondexter) 72-62, with Zellous scoring 15 points with 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, and defeating Botas (Odyssey Sims, Natasha Lacy) 72-41, as Zellous scored 19 points with 4 rebounds, and 6 assists. In two games last week, she averaged 17.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 4.5 apg. She is now leading Besiktas in scoring at 15.6 ppg this season. Her squad will face Yakin Dogu on Dec. 29.
Turkey-KBSL (5-5, Ranked 5th)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #41 K. STOKES (Turkey) | 6 | 36.0 | 32 | 53 | .604 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 12 | 15 | .800 | 15.8 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 12.7 |
Since joining Besiktas at the end of November, Kiah Stokes has helped them post a 5-1 record and move up to 5th place in the Turkish League standings. She averaged a double-double in two wins last week, and is continuing her dominance, ranking 1st in the league in rebounding (15.8 rpg) and blocks (1.8 bpg). In a victory over Girne Univ. (Cappie Pondexter), Stokes had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Three days later as Besiktas routed Botas (Odyssey Sims, Natasha Lacy) 72-41, Stokes scored 14 points with 16 rebounds and 3 more blocked shots. Besiktas will plays its final game of 2016 against Yakin Dogu on Dec. 29.