There were several strong performances for Liberty players on the international stage this week, especially in EuroLeague play where New York took up two of the five spots for the top performers of the week.
In a critical win for Epiphanny Prince and Dynamo Kursk over Fenerbahce, Prince scored 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting with 4 assists. Nadezhda Orenburg also picked up a EuroLeague win this week, and Amanda Zahui B finished with 25 points and 15 rebounds against Sopron, nailing three 3-pointers.
Kia Vaughn and USK Praha also notched a EuroLeague victory and she played a key role, scoring 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting with 8 rebounds in a narrow 58-55 win over Lattes.
Rebecca Allen and Tanisha Wright await the start of the EuroCup Round of 8 later this week, and both picked up easy wins in their domestic leagues. Allen had a double-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals for Good Angels as they beat BAM Poprad, 88-41. Wright scored 8 points with 4 assists as Abdullah Gul beat Mersin 74-64.
For Kiah Stokes and Shavonte Zellous, Besiktas dropped a 2nd-straight game, losing to Adana ASKI, 61-56. Zellous posted 17 points and 6 rebounds, while Stokes had 6 points and 17 boards.
LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Amanda Zahui B – Nadezhda Orenburg
Two wins for Amanda Zahui B and Nadezhda Orenburg last week, as the Liberty center showed off her shooting touch, sinking 4 3-pointers in a great scoring week. In Orenburg’s win over Sopron, Zahui B dropped 25 points and 15 rebounds, shooting 3-of-6 from long distance. In an easy win over Spartak N., she added 14 points and 7 rebounds. In two games her averages were 19.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game.
Slovakia-Extraliga (5-1, Ranked 1st)
Eurocup Round of 8 (Defeated Flammes in Round of 16)
EEWBL (7-1, Ranked 2nd)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #5 R. ALLEN (Slovakia) | 14 | 19.9 | 57 | 102 | .559 | 19 | 34 | .559 | 27 | 32 | .844 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 14.1 |
| #5 R. ALLEN (EuroCup) | 8 | 25.4 | 17 | 41 | .415 | 15 | 28 | .536 | 26 | 33 | .788 | 5.9 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 13.1 |
| #5 R. ALLEN (EEWBL) | 5 | 17.8 | 12 | 24 | .500 | 6 | 15 | .400 | 7 | 9 | .778 | 4.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.8 |
Rebecca Allen and Good Angels played just one game last week, easily getting past BAM Poprad 88-41 over the weekend. Allen did not have a huge scoring game, but she did record a double-double as part of an impressive all-around stat line. She finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, also dishing out 3 assists, with 4 steals, and 3 blocked shots. Allen ranks 5th in the Slovakian Extraliga averaging 14.1 ppg, and is 2nd with 1.4 blocks per game. Coming up this week, Good Angels will open its EuroCup Round of 8 series with Cegledi EKK on Thursday at home.
Czech Republic-ZBL (18-0, Ranked 1st)
EuroLeague Group A (9-2, Ranked 2nd)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #1 K. VAUGHN (Czech Republic) | 12 | 16.4 | 56 | 83 | .675 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 18 | 26 | .692 | 4.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 10.8 |
| #1 K. VAUGHN (EuroLeague) | 11 | 29.5 | 61 | 111 | .550 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 15 | 18 | .833 | 5.9 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 12.5 |
USK Praha was able to move up to 2nd place in the EuroLeague Group A standings thanks to a 58-55 win over Lattes Montp. last week, in which Kia Vaughn turned in an outstanding performance. She shot 8-of-11 from the field to post 18 points with 8 rebounds in the one-possession win for Praha. Over the weekend, she scored 9 points in 17 minutes of action at USK Praha easily defeated Karlovy Vary 100-45 in the Czech League, improving to 18-0 in the process. Coming up this week for Vaughn and USK Praha is a big EuroLeague group match against her new Liberty teammate Epiphanny Prince and Dynamo Kursk.
Russia-PBL (15-1, Ranked 2nd)
EuroLeague Group A (11-0, Ranked 1st)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #10 E. PRINCE (Russia) | 15 | 23.3 | 40 | 83 | .482 | 8 | 26 | .308 | 15 | 21 | .714 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 7.9 |
| #10 E. PRINCE (EuroLeague) | 10 | 27.2 | 32 | 58 | .552 | 3 | 16 | .188 | 7 | 10 | .700 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 8.0 |
Epiphanny Prince turned in one of her best offensive games of the season for Dynamo Kursk in an 86-79 win over Fenerbahce (Shekinna Stricklen, Allie Quigley, Jantel Lavender) in EuroLeague group play last week. Prince shot 7-of-13 from the field and finished with 19 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals to help Kursk remain unbeaten in EuroLeague group action as teams inch closer to tournament action. In an easy 89-56 win over Dynamo Moscow that allowed Kursk to improve to 15-1 in the Russian League, Prince posted 5 points and 3 assists in limited action. Later this week, Prince will square off against new Liberty teammate Kia Vaughn and USK Praha in a EuroLeague game, perhaps Kursk’s final test before the league begins postseason action next month.
Russia-PBL (13-3, Ranked 3rd)
Euroleague Group B (8-3, Ranked 2nd)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #17 A. ZAHUI B (Russia) | 15 | 19.4 | 62 | 104 | .596 | 8 | 18 | .444 | 35 | 41 | .854 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 12.2 |
| #17 A. ZAHUI B (EuroLeague) | 10 | 28.9 | 45 | 95 | .474 | 4 | 26 | .154 | 30 | 37 | .811 | 9.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 13.2 |
What a week for Amanda Zahui B. and Nadezhda Orenburg, as they picked up a couple of wins, improving to 8-3 in EuroLeague group play to maintain the 2nd position in Group B. In that 89-69 EuroLeague win over UNIQA Sopron, Zahui B went off, scoring 25 points on 11-of-22 shooting with 3 makes from 3-point range, with 15 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. It led to her being named one of the EuroLeague Top Performers of the Week. She played just 20 minutes in an 86-63 win over Spartak N. in the Russian League, scoring 14 points with 7 rebounds. Her 9.7 rebounds per game rank 3rd in the EuroLeague tournament. This week, Orenburg will play twice, facing Bourges in EuroLeague action on Wednesday, and Chevakata in Russia next weekend.
Turkey-KBSL (10-4, Ranked 4th)
EuroCup Round of 16 (Defeated Nice to advance to Round of 8)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #30 T. WRIGHT (Turkey) | 14 | 34.2 | 60 | 140 | .429 | 8 | 18 | .444 | 45 | 43 | .849 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 13.5 |
| #30 T. WRIGHT (EuroCup) | 8 | 26.4 | 40 | 62 | .645 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 22 | 26 | .846 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 0.0 | 12.8 |
It was a light week for Tanisha Wright and Abdullah Gul as they prepare to begin the EuroCup Round of 8 this week against Girona in what figures to be one of the premier matchups of the tournament’s quarterfinal round. Over the weekend, Kayseri easily handled Mersin BSB (Danielle Robinson) 74-64, with Wright scoring 8 points with 4 assists. Wright is averaging 13.5 points and 5.1 assists per game in Turkey, which ranks 9th in the league. After facing Girona in the 1st leg of their Round of 8 pairing on Thursday, Abdullah Gul hosts Adana ASKI on Feb. 11.
Turkey-KBSL (8-8, Ranked 5th)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #2 S. ZELLOUS (Turkey) | 16 | 36.3 | 81 | 198 | .409 | 16 | 64 | .250 | 56 | 67 | .836 | 5.4 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 16.6 |
Shavonte Zellous scored 17 points, but Besiktas suffered a 2nd-straight loss, falling to Adana ASKI (Alex Bentley, Avery Warley-Talbert, Alysha Clark) 61-56 over the weekend. Zellous converted one shot from downtown for Besiktas and had 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. She is now averaging 16.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game, ranking 8th in the Turkish League in scoring. Besiktas will look to bounce back against 1st place Fenerbahce this weekend.
Turkey-KBSL (8-8, Ranked 5th)
| GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
| #41 K. STOKES (Turkey) | 12 | 35.3 | 64 | 109 | .587 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 22 | 29 | .759 | 15.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 12.8 |
Kiah Stokes and Besiktas suffered a narrow 61-56 loss to Adana ASKI (Alex Bentley, Avery Warley-Talbert, Alysha Clark) last week in the Turkish League, falling to 8-8 overall, good for a 5-way tie for 5th place in the league table. Stokes pulled down 17 rebounds for Besiktas, but scored 6 points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field. She is now averaging 12.8 points and 15.4 rebounds per game, still easily leading the league in rebounding. Besiktas faces 1st place Fenerbahce on Feb. 11.