Four Teams & Six U.S. Olympic Gold Medalists To Compete in EuroLeague Final Four

- 2009-10 EuroLeague Results

As predicted, Spartak Moscow Region, UMMC Ekaterinburg, Wisla Can-Pack and Ros Casares all booked trips to the 2010 EuroLeague Final Four. Three of the teams did so in just two games, while Frisco Sika Brno forced a third game, but the upstarts from Wisla Can-Pack Krakow took the third and final game of the series. Wisla, if you recall, only gained entrance to this year's EuroLeague after CSKA folded just prior to the start of the season. The deciding games were all close, none were won by more than six points, and Spartak shook off a scare from Fener to earn an 87-85 overtime victory.

Played April 9 and 11 at a site yet to be announced " it will be hosted by one of the four remaining teams " the 2010 EuroLeague Final Four will see the two Russian squads going up against each other in one semifinal and Wisla will go up against Ros in the other semifinal.

With Diana Taurasi's 38-point output in overtime last week, she left little doubt that she'll take home this year's EuroLeague scoring trophy. She has led all participants in scoring from Week 1 and unless she comes up flat, which is doubtful to happen as Taurasi lives for the big games, she'll easily finish as the No. 1 scorer. Taurasi is currently averaging 23.7 ppg. The Good Angels duo of Angel McCoughtry (19.0 ppg.) and Candice Dupree (18.9 ppg.) sit in the No. 2 and No. 3 position, respectively. However, both are out of the field as their team bowed out in last week's quarterfinals. In fact, the next leading scorer still in playoff contention is Janel Burse, currently ranked No. 10, who is averaging 15.8 ppg.

EuroCup Update
Before continuing with the EuroLeague summary, we thought we should bring you an update on the happenings in the EuroCup. Four teams have advanced to the March 11 and 18 semifinals. TV Saarlouis Royals (Germany) will take on Nedezhda Orenburg (Russia) in the first game, while Dynamo Kursk (Russia) will face SONY Athinaikos (Greece) for the right to play for the title game. Unlike in the EuroLeague, the EuroCup is a two-game series with the aggregate point total determining which team advances. It may not seem very sportsmanlike, but running up the score in the first game is a wise move.

No big names stand out on the TV Saarlouis Royals roster, but they'll face the USA's Monique Currie and Sheana Mosch, in addition to a slew of top Russian talent. The Dynamo squad, featuring Michelle Snow, will match up against USA National Team member Candice Wiggins and Olympic gold medalist Ruth Riley, who are two of Sony Athinaikos' top players.

The EuroLeague Semifinal Match-Ups
If you could only watch one semifinal game, it should be the Spartak Moscow Region versus UMMC Ekaterinburg contest. Spartak features three Olympic gold medalists in Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Diana Taurasi, along with former USA National Team member Janel McCarville, and former FIBA Europe Young Woman Player of the Year Anete Jekabsone-Zogota of Latvia, among other top internationals. On the other side of the court are Olympic gold medalists Candace Parker and Cappie Pondexter, longtime Poland National Team member Agnieszka ‘Biba' Bibrzycka, France's Sandrine Gruda, Belgium's Ann Wauters and former Detroit Shock player Deanna Nolan.

Of course, that's not to say that the other semifinal game will be something to miss. Ros Casares Valencia, which finished as the 2007 EuroLeague runners-up, is the more experienced team. Two-time Olympic and two-time FIBA World Championship gold medalist DeLisha Milton-Jones leads an internationally seasoned roster that includes Brazil National Team member Erika de Souza, Spain's two-time Olympian and three-time FIBA World Championship Team member Amaya Valdemoro, and Olympic silver medalist Belinda Snell of Australia, among others. Wisla Can-Pack, which was slated to play in this year's EuroCup before CSKA folded, is led by American Janel Burse, Spain's Marta Fernandez, sister to Rudy Fernandez, Brazi's Izi Castro Marques, Poland's Ewelina Kobryn and Israel's Liron Cohen.

Quarterfinal Recaps
Spartak Moscow Region 85, Fenerbache 83 (OT)
Spartak (14-0) nearly saw its perfect season go down the drain, but thanks in part to Diana Taurasi's six points in overtime, edged host Fenerbache (9-5) in the second game of their quarterfinals series.

The game see-sawed with momentum swinging like a pendulum. Spartak led by four at the end of the first quarter, then Fener took an eight-point swing to go up by four at halftime and in the third quarter also belonged to the hosts, who found themselves up on the giants 67-52 with 10 minutes to play. Spartak raced back into the contest as Taurasi scored seven points and Sylvia Fowles notched four in a 13-2 run to open the final stanza. Fener stopped the bleeding at 4:02 on a Tammy Sutton-Brown jumper to up the score to 71-65. However, Sue Bird responded with a layup, followed by a pair of threes from Taurasi to put Spartak ahead 73-71 with just over a minute to play. Former USA National Team member Nicole Powell sank a jumper with 13 seconds remaining to tie the score. As time wound down, Taurasi missed a jumper, but another former USA National Team member Janel McCarville was there for the offensive board, but wasn't able to convert her last-second shot for the win.

Latvia's Anete Jekabsone-Zogota opened with a three, just 10 seconds into the extra period and Spartak took the lead, 76-73. However, Spartak was unable to shake Fener and at 1:47 Powell hit a 3-pointer to pull her side ahead 83-82. By the 1:05 mark Fener's lead was three points, 85-82. Taurasi scored the game's next four points and held an 86-85 edge with 24 seconds to play. Powell missed a shot with seven seconds remaining and Fenerbache was forced to foul after that to stop the clock. Jekabsone-Zogota stepped to the line with two seconds to play and missed her first attempt, but made her second and Spartak held on for the win.

Taurasi scored a season-high 38 points in the win and grabbed six boards; Fowles posted 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field, had 19 rebounds and three blocked shots; Bird had 10 points and three assists, while McCarville finished with six points and six rebounds and Jekabsone-Zogota also scored six.

Fenerbache was led by Powell's 23 points and seven rebounds, Sutton-Brown added 16 points, Turkey's Esmeral Tuncluer notched 13 and Australia's Penny Taylor was held to 11 points.

UMMC Ekaterinburg 65, Good Angels Kosice 60
UMMC Ekaterinburg (13-1) fought back a second-half surge from Good Angels Kosice (8-6) to regain the lead and hold off the hosts 65-60 to advance to the Final Four.

After going ahead 17-9 in the first quarter, Ekat owned a 31-24 edge heading into the halftime locker room. However, USA National Team member Candice Dupree scored six points in a 13-6 run to even the score 37-37 with 3:21 to go in the third quarter. The game stayed close and by the end of the period Ekaterinburg was up by one point, 42-41.

USA National Team member Angel McCoughtry put her team back up early in the fourth quarter, but Poland's Agnieszka ‘Biba' Bibrzycka converted on a traditional 3-point play that put Ekat on top for good, 45-43, with 9:09 to play. Biba continued to roll, getting another 3-point play, hitting a pair of free throws and netting a 3-pointer as Ekaterinburg's lead expanded to 56-48 with 6:30 to play. Kosice closed to 63-56, but Cappie Pondexter stepped to the line and fired in a pair of points with 45 seconds to play and the lead was nine, 65-56. The Good Angels continued to fight back, but time was not on their side and time expired two seconds after McCoughtry put up the game's final points from the line.

Biba was Ekaterinburg's top scorer with 20 points, Pondexter had 11 points and five boards, while Candace Parker put up seven points, 11 rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocked shots in the well-rounded team effort.

Dupree compiled her ninth and final double-double of the EuroLeague season with 23 points 12 rebounds, McCoughtry was Kosice's second-leading scorer with 16 points and also grabbed six boards.

Ros Casares Valencia 63, Halcon Avenida 57
Ros Casares Valencia (12-2) led most of the game and came away with a berth to its first Final Four since 2007 with a 63-57 victory over Halcon Avenida (10-5).

Taking a 37-28 lead into the halftime locker room, Ros held onto its lead through the third quarter and with 10 minutes to play the visiting team was up 47-40. Halcon Avenida made a strong 17-10 push in the fourth period and knotted the score 57-57 with just under three minutes remaining. Over the next 1:31 neither team was able to score and with 1:21 to play Australia's Belinda Snell gave Ros the lead again, 59-57. Two-time Olympic gold medalist DeLisha Milton-Jones got a steal, but Snell's shot was off the mark. However, Brazil's Erika De Souza grabbed the rebound and got a put-back to up the lead to 61-57 with 48 ticks on the clock. Milton-Jones capped the night with a pair of free throws as her team escaped with the win.

De Souza scored a game-high 21 points and added eight rebounds, Spain's Amaya Valdemoro and Anna Montanana pitched in 13 and 10 points, respectively. Milton-Jones was held to five points and grabbed five boards.

Sancho Lyttle topped her side's scoring efforts with 17 points and grabbed 10 boards, Le'Coe Willingham also posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Spain's Silvia Dominguez scored 13 points.

Wisla Can-Pack 78, Frisco Sika Brno 73
After Frisco Sika Brno (9-7) forced a Game 3 by virtue of a decisive 87-72 home blow-out in Game 2, fueled by a 23-14 third-quarter run, Wisla Can-Pack (13-3) held back a determined Brno squad in the third game to take the 78-73 victory and Final Four berth.

In the deciding game, the first half was nearly even and Wisla marched into the halftime break with a two-point, 47-45, edge. In a little under five minutes into the third quarter, Burse broke a 53-53 tie to spark a 10-4 run that ended with Wisla on top 63-57 with 10 minutes to play. However, Brno was not ready to concede and battled back, tying the game once again on a Hana Horakova jumper with 5:40 remaining in the do-or-die contest. Janel Burse, who finished with 20 points on the night, answered with a bucket 21 seconds later, putting Wisla on top for good, 67-65. Wisla began to pull away and with just under two minutes on the clock held a 75-68 lead. A pair of Brno free throws with 47 seconds left pulled the visitors to 75-70. A Liron Cohen free throw 10 seconds later lifted Wisla to 76-70, but a three by Jelena Skerovic, who scored her side's final seven points, closed the gap to 76-73. Brno was unable to get any closer and Spain's Marta Fernandez iced the win with a jumper with 12 seconds remaining for the final points in the 78-73 victory.

In addition to her 20 points, Burse grabbed eight boards. Fernandez scored 17 points, Brazil's Izi Castro Marques notched 14 points and four assists, while Poland's Ewelina Kobryn posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.

Skerovic top-scored for Brno with 18 points and dished out five assists, while former USA National Team member Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Australia's Hollie Grima pitched in 15 points apiece