The biggest wins of the week came for Rebecca Allen and Tanisha Wright, both of whom helped lead their teams to the EuroCup Quarterfinals, where they now await a series that will begin next month.
Allen’s team just needed to prevent Cegledi from overcoming its deficit from the 1st leg matchup, but went ahead and won the 2nd matchup 77-70, with Allen scoring 11 points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers. Wright and Abdullah Gul had a bit more work to do against Girona, but easily coasted to an 85-54 win with Wright scoring 9 points and dishing out 9 assists.
Elsewhere, Shavonte Zellous and Kiah Stokes played well for Besiktas against Hatay, but they lost a close game 64-61. Zellous continued her hot scoring streak, scoring 21 points with 3 3-pointers, and Stokes recorded a double-double of 14 points and 18 rebounds.
Epiphanny Prince and Dynamo Kursk moved to 13-0 in the EuroLeague, beating Familia Schio 70-64, Prince finished with 9 points and 3 assists in that contest, needing just one more win to complete group play with an unblemished record.
In the Czech Republic, USK Praha was edged by Fenerbahce in EuroLeague, 71-63, as Kia Vaughn recorded 8 points and 8 rebounds.
LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Amanda Zahui B – Nadezhda Orenburg
Nadezhda Orenburg may have come up just short in its upset bid of UMMC, but Amanda Zahui B still enjoyed a monster game for her Russian club team, posting a double-double of 28 points and 10 rebounds with 4 3-pointers. She followed that up with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting in a Russian league win over Dynamo NR, averaging 22.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in a pair of performance last week.
Slovakia-Extraliga (7-1, Ranked 1st)
Eurocup Round of 8 (Defeated Cegledi EKK in 1st leg 79-64)
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) | 16 | 20.1 | 65 | 120 | .542 | 20 | 38 | .526 | 27 | 33 | .818 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 13.6 |
#5 R. ALLEN (EuroCup) | 10 | 25.4 | 22 | 51 | .431 | 18 | 38 | .474 | 27 | 35 | .771 | 5.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 12.5 |
#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 picked up a big win to advance to the EuroCup quarterfinals last week. Already holding a sizable point differential advantage over Cegledi, Good Angels did not need to win last week’s matchup in the 2nd leg, but did anyway, picking up a 77-70 victory. Allen was instrumental once again, finishing with 11 points while nailing a pair of 3-pointers as her team advanced to the final eight of the tournament, awaiting a matchup that will commence in March. Over the weekend, Kosice continued its hot play in the Slovakian League, easily dispatching Samorin 83-56. Allen scored 10 points in that win, playing just 23 minutes. Her 13.6 ppg ranks 5th in Slovakia and she is also 9th in steals (2.2 spg) and 2nd in blocks (1.3 bpg). Good Angels resumes Slovakian play on Feb. 22 against Piestanske.
Czech Republic-ZBL (20-0, Ranked 1st)
EuroLeague Group A (9-4, Ranked 3rd)
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) | 13 | 29.1 | 66 | 128 | .516 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 15 | 18 | .833 | 5.8 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 11.3 |
It was just one game of competition last week for Kia Vaughn, as she competed against Fenerbahce (Allie Quigley, Jantel Lavender, Shekinna Stricklen) in EuroLeague action, but USK Praha fell 71-63. Vaughn played 31 minutes and nearly logged a double-double against the talented Turkish team, scoring 8 points with 8 rebounds and 3 steals. In EuroLeague action she is averaging 11.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Over the weekend, USK Praha beat MK Technic in its domestic league, 113-48, but Vaughn did not see action in that contest. USK Praha will play its final EuroLeague group stage contest against Familia Schio on Feb. 22.
Russia-PBL (17-1, Ranked 2nd)
EuroLeague Group A (13-0, Ranked 1st)
GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
#10 E. PRINCE (Russia) | 17 | 22.6 | 42 | 87 | .483 | 8 | 31 | .258 | 18 | 25 | .720 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 7.4 |
#10 E. PRINCE (EuroLeague) | 13 | 27.9 | 46 | 84 | .548 | 4 | 20 | .200 | 13 | 18 | .722 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 9.0 |
Two more wins last week for Dynamo Kursk, as Epiphanny Prince’s Russian club team remained unbeaten in EuroLeague group play. Dynamo Kursk was tested last week by Familia Schio, picking up a 70-64 victory, with Prince scoring 9 points with 3 assists and 2 steals in 27 minutes of action. Over the weekend, Kursk improved to 17-1 in the Russian League, beating MBA 83-59. Logging just 22 minutes, Prince finished with 4 points and 5 assists in the win. Dynamo Kursk wraps EuroLeague group play against UNI Gyor on Feb. 22, and then will face UMMC in a battle amongst the two star-studded teams atop the Russian Premier League standings over the weekend.
Russia-PBL (15-3, Ranked 3rd)
Euroleague Group B (9-4, Ranked 2nd)
GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
#17 A. ZAHUI B (Russia) | 17 | 19.8 | 79 | 127 | .622 | 10 | 23 | .435 | 42 | 50 | .840 | 4.7 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 13.5 |
#17 A. ZAHUI B (EuroLeague) | 13 | 28.9 | 62 | 130 | .477 | 11 | 45 | .244 | 36 | 47 | .766 | 9.5 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 14.8 |
Although Nadezhda Orenburg went just 1-1, it was a huge week for Amanda Zahui B. In a narrow 88-81 setback against unbeaten UMMC (Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi, Emma Meesseman) in EuroLeague action, Zahui B hung a monster double-double of 28 points and 10 rebounds, nailing 4 3-pointers in the process. She followed that up over the weekend by scoring 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting with 4 rebounds in a Russian League win over Dynamo NR, 73-56. In a pair of games last week, she averaged 22.5 points per game, with 7.0 rebounds per contest while knocking down 5 3-pointers. In EuroLeague, she ranks 5th in rebounding with 9.5 per contest and is just outside of the top-10, posting 14.8 ppg. This week, Zahui Be and Orenburg face a good test against Avenida in the final EuroLeague group game of the season, then they will play Sparta on Feb. 19.
Turkey-KBSL (12-4, Ranked 4th)
EuroCup Round of 8 (Fell to Girona in 1st leg 71-63)
GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
#30 T. WRIGHT (Turkey) | 16 | 33.5 | 69 | 156 | .442 | 8 | 20 | .400 | 50 | 58 | .862 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 13.3 |
#30 T. WRIGHT (EuroCup) | 10 | 26.5 | 49 | 78 | .628 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 24 | 28 | .857 | 2.4 | 4.5 | 2.1 | 0.0 | 12.2 |
Tanisha Wright and Abdullah Gul are headed to the EuroCup quarterfinals after picking up a decisive 85-54 win over Girona in the 2nd leg of their Round of 8 matchup last week. Wright scored 6 points and dished out an impressive 9 assists in the victory, helping guide her team into a quarterfinals series next month. Over the weekend, she was also instrumental in helping power a win over 1st place Fenerbahce in the Turkish League, scoring 10 points with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Wright and Abdullah Gul will return to action against Hatay on Feb. 25.
Turkey-KBSL (9-9, Ranked 8th)
GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
#2 S. ZELLOUS (Turkey) | 18 | 36.4 | 90 | 224 | .402 | 20 | 77 | .260 | 62 | 74 | .838 | 5.5 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 16.8 |
The hot scoring streak continued for Shavonte Zellous, as she dropped 21 points last weekend against Hatay (Courtney Paris), but Besiktas was unable to pick up the victory, falling 64-61. Zellous nailed 3 3-pointers in the contest, also grabbing 4 rebounds with 4 assists. She saw her scoring average improve to 16.8 ppg, just outside of the top-10 in the Turkish League. Besiktas now sits in 8th place at 9-9 overall, locked in a tight battle where a game and a half separates 6 teams. Besiktas returns to action against Osmaniye on on Feb. 25.
Turkey-KBSL (9-9, Ranked 8th)
GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | |
#41 K. STOKES (Turkey) | 14 | 35.5 | 73 | 128 | .570 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 31 | 40 | .775 | 15.4 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 12.9 |
Kiah Stokes posted another double-double but Besiktas was unable to pick up a win against Hatay (Courtney Paris) in the Turkish League, falling 64-61 on the weekend. With the setback, Besiktas fell to 9-9 overall, ranked 8th in the Turkish League approaching the home stretch of the regular season. Stokes scored 14 points, and the league’s leading rebounder hauled in 18 boards. She is now averaged 12.9 points and 15.4 rebounds per contest, and also ranks 1st with 1.6 blocks per contest. Besiktas returns to the court next weekend against Osmaniye on Feb. 25.