USA National Team Members Still Going Strong in EuroLeague Action

Dec. 10, 2009 - 2009-10 EuroLeague Results & Standings

Averaging 8.3 ppg., Cappie Pondexter's 5.5 rpg. and 5.3 apg. is leading UMMC Ekaterinburg in rebounds and assists. She's currently ranked sixth in the league in assists, where she's also the top U.S. playmaker. Sylvia Fowles continues to be a strong inside force for the undefeated Spartak Moscow team. She posted two double-doubles so far, came one rebound shy of a third and is averaging 14.3 ppg. and a league 12th-best 7.7 rpg., while shooting a league fourth-best 60.4 percent (32-53 FGs) from the field. Fowles scored in double digits in her first five outings and in Spartak's rout of Szeviep this week, played a season-low 18 minutes and contributed eight points and six boards. For the seventh straight week Diana Taurasi is atop the leader board for scoring, averaging a whopping 22.7 ppg., while adding 5.0 rpg., 3.7 apg. and 1.2 spg. in six games for Spartak. She scored 20 or more points five times

Several of the USA National Team hopefuls who attended the USA's fall training camp are also having strong EuroLeague campaigns.

• Alana Beard: Averaging 13.2 ppg. and 1.4 apg. over five games for LOTOS Gdynia, while shooting a EuroLeague No. 1 ranking of 66.7 percent (10-15 3pt FGs) from 3-point.
  
• Shameka Christon: Averaging 10.7 ppg., 3.3 rpg., 1.8 apg. and 1.2 bpg. alongside Beard at LOTOS. Her blocked shot average ranks No. 8 among this year's crop of EuroLeague blockers.
  
• Candice Dupree: Averaging a double-double of 18.6 ppg. and 10.1 rpg. to go with her 1.3 apg., 1.3 spg. and 1.9 bpg., for Good Angels Kosice. Currently ranked among 2009-10 EuroLeague leaders No. 1 for blocked shots, No. 3 for rebounds and double-doubles (4) and No. 4 for points. After playing 37 and 36 minutes in her first two games, she's played the entire time over the last five and ranks first in the league for minutes played (39.0 mpg.).
  
• Asjha Jones: Averaging 7.6 ppg., 4.6 rpg. and 1.8 apg. in 19.8 mpg. in five games for the talent-stocked UMMC Ekaterinburg club.
  
• Crystal Langhorne: Averaging 17.3 ppg., 8.4 rpg., 1.0 apg. and 1.4 spg., while notching two double-doubles in seven games for the undefeated Rivas Ecopolis. Currently ranks among league leaders No. 1 for field goal percentage (.697), No. 2 for 2-point field goal percentage (.697), No. 3 for free throw percentage (.906), No. 5 for rebounds and No. 7 for points. Has hit double figures for scoring in six games, including a 32-point output and twice has scored 20 or more points.
  
• Angel McCoughtry: Averaging a EuroLeague second best 20.2 ppg., while adding 6.6 rpg., 2.6 apg., and 3.0 spg. playing in five games alongside Dupree for Good Angels Kosice. Has scored 13 or more points in each contest, including three times over 20 points, and ranks No. 2 in the league for steals.
  
• Renee Montgomery: Averaging a EuroLeague 10th-best 16.6 ppg., while adding 2.4 rpg. and a league 11th-best 4.0 apg. in seven games for TEO Vilnius. Posted one double-double with 22 points and 10 assists against TTT Riga.
  
• Lindsay Whalen: Averaging 14.9 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 3.0 apg. and 1.9 spg., while shooting a leage eighth-best 86.2 percent (25-29 FTs) from the line over seven games for ZVVZ USK Prague.
  
• Candice Wiggins: Wiggins is playing for EuroCup participant Sony Athinaikos (4-1) in Greece And is currently averaging 16.6 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 3.4 apg. and 1.6 spg., while shooting 86.4 percent (19-22 FTs) from the line in five EuroCup contests.
• Former USA gold medalists DeLisha Milton-Jones (two-time Olympic and two-time World Championship gold medalist) and Taj McWilliams-Franklin (1998 World Championship gold medalist) deserve mention here. Milton-Jones is racking up another stellar season with Ros Casares and is currently averaging 18.3 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 2.3 apg. and 1.3 spg. Additionally, she is ranked No. 6 in the league for scoring and No. 9 for field goal percentage (.545) for the playoff-bound Ros Casares team. McWilliams, who turns 40 next year, is still going strong, averaging 13.7 ppg., 7.1 rpg., 1.6 apg. and 1.7 spg. for Frisco Sika Brno.

Moving On Up
With three games to play in the preliminary round, eight teams have already clinched spots in the eighth-finals, which begin on Feb. 2, 2010. In Group A Ros Casares Valencia (6-1), UMMC Ekaterinburg (6-1) and Galatasaray Istanbul (4-3) have clinched playoff berths and TEO Vilnius has been eliminated. In Group B Wisla Can-Pack Krakow (7-0), Halcon Avenida Salamanca (5-2) and Beretta Famila Schio (5-2) have clinched a berth to the next round; Group C's Rivas Ecopolis (7-0) is the only team that has a definite slot in the next round; while in Group D it's Spartak Moscow Region that knows its advancing to the Eighth-Finals.

The 16-team Eighth-Finals will feature the top four teams from each preliminary round group. It's not enough to advance to the Eighth-Final round, getting home court advantage is a huge plus as the best ranked team will host the first and (if necessary) third games in the series. The winners of the Eighth-Finals series advance to the quarterfinals round. From there it gets complicated. The quarterfinals is another best of three series, however, if there are two or more teams from the same country, they'll be pitted against each other. It's FIBA Europe's way of spreading the Final Four wealth around. The quarterfinal will begin on Feb. 23, 2010, with the Final Four scheduled April 9 and 11. The site will be determined after the quarterfinals as the Final Four will be hosted by one of the last four teams standing.

Missed it by THAT much!
We feel a little bad for Gospic Croatia. Just like Maxwell Smart, the Croatian squad missed another win by a very close margin. After dropping their first three games by an average of 17.3 ppg. to open their inaugural EuroLeague season, Gospic then lost three of its next four contests by an average of 3.3 ppg. This week's game would have been a heartbreaker for any team. However, when you're so close to your second victory of the season and lose on a last-second shot, the sting has got to be even worse. (For more on the game, see below)

Home Team Advantage For Sure
It was a good week to be playing at home. Of the 12 games played this week, 10 were won by the home team. The only two teams unable to give their home crowd something to cheer for were ESB Lille Metropole, which suffered a 75-57 defeat at the hands of the visiting Beretta-Famila Schio. MiZo Pécs 2010 hosted the undefeated Wisla Can-Pack Krakow and were very close to an upset until a 7-2 surge by the visitors ended the game with Wisla remaining unbeaten.

Group A
Next week will feature the clash of the titans in Group A, with UMMC Ekaterinburg (6-1) hosting Ros Casares (6-1) on Wednesday. The Russian club's lone loss came at the hands of Ros in week three, a stunning 87-68 win by the Spanish club. If UMMC defeats Ros by more than 19 points, it will stand atop the standings, however, if Ros wins, they take the top spot in the group. Galatasary (4-3) clinched a playoff spot and Cras Basket Taranto (4-3) and is a step closer to the playoff round, while TTT Riga (1-6) and TEO Vilnius (0-7) should start to focus on moral victories and their domestic league championships as it's mathematically impossible for TEO to climb two rungs, while TTT Riga would need to win each of their next three games for a spot in the playoffs.

UMMC Ekaterinburg 73, Cras Basket Taranto 42
UMMC saw the return of previously injured Celine Dumerc, the starting point guard for France's gold medal team at the 2009 European Championship, had every player score, including four in double digits, as it ran past Cras Basket Taranto 73-42. Taranto, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end, fell behind early, 14-9 at the end of the first quarter and by halftime UMMC was in front 39-21. UMMC put the nail in the coffin with a 27-6 third quarter assault that put the game away 65-28 with 10 minutes still to play. Dumerc's French teammate Sandrine Gruda posted a game-high 16 points, Russian Maria Stepanova had 11, while Poland's ‘Biba' and Belgium native Ann Wauters posted 10 points apiece. Pondexter dished out a game-high six assists to go with five boards and four points. Brazilian Ilisaine David posted a team-high 12 points for the Italian squad, while former USA National Team member Rebekkah Brunson was held to just 1-of-11 shooting from the field and finished with three points.

Ros Casares 75, TEO Vilnius 60
Ros Casares handed the once-strong TEO Vilnius club its seventh defeat of the season, 75-60. It was the second game this season for Spaniard Amaya Valdemoro, who had been injured, and she showed why she's considered one of the best players in Europe, posting 15 points, four rebounds and two assists in just 17 minutes of action. Following closely behind in scoring was the USA's two-time Olympic and two-time World Championship gold medalist DeLisha Milton-Jones with 14 points, three boards and three steals. TEO's two Americans, Quanitra Hollingsworth and Renee Montgomery, combined for 24 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists. Ros struck first and never trailed. However, the game remained close and TEO knotted the score at 16-all early in the second period. Ros went on a 12-0 run to hold the Baltic club at bay and by halftime led 38-26. The lead stayed in double digits the rest of the game. At the end of three, the score was 58-42 and Ros went on to claim the 15-point victory.

Galatasary Istanbul 71, TTT Riga 55
Galatasary jumped out to a 25-10 lead to open the contest and never looked back in taking TTT Riga 71-55 and clinching a playoff berth. Belarussian Yelena Leuchanka scored 10 of her eventual 13 points during that opening run as the hosts held a 35-26 halftime lead and opened it to 58-37 at the end of the third quarter. Former USA National Team member Katie Douglas scored a team-high 17 points, while Sophia Young added 15 points in the victory. Lisa Willis posted 17 points, four rebounds and three assists for TTT Riga.

Group B
Wisla Can-Pack Krakow (7-0) remained undefeated after edging MiZo Pécs 2010 (2-5) 74-71, which left MiZo clinging to the fourth place spot in Group B. Halcon Avenida (5-2) and Beretta Famila Schio (5-2) both won this week and have booked spots in the next round, while Gospic Croatia (1-6) and ESB Lille Metropole (1-6) lessened their chances at a playoff spot.

Beretta-Famila Schio 75, ESB Lille Metropole 57
Beretta-Famila Schio went up 21-13 after the first quarter and owned the game, 48-27, by halftime. Schio, in addition to taking the game 75-57, won the battle of the boards by a hefty 43-39. The visiting Italian team was paced in the win by Congo native Mudju Ngoyisa's 18 points. The USA's Marissa Coleman turned in six points and six assists for the winners. France's Ingrid Tanqueray led Lille with 17 points, while American Jolene Anderson contributed 10 points and six rebounds.

Halcon Avenida 81, Gospic Croatia 79
Halcon Avenida (5-2) narrowly escaped an upset by Gospic Croatia (1-6). Ukraine's Olexandra Gorbunova scored off a put-back at the buzzer to avoid overtime and give Halcon an 81-79 victory. In a game that was close throughout, Gospic took a 45-41 lead at the midway break and still held a four-point, 62-58, lead heading into the final stanza. Halcon closed the gap early in the fourth quarter and a bucket by Le'Coe Willingham put Halcon in front 65-64 with 7:32 to play. Halcon went up 77-70 after an Anke DeMondt three-point play with three minutes remaining on the clock. However, Gospic forced a pair of turnovers, including a three-second violation, got a perfect 4-of-4 from the line from Croatian Andja Jelavic and a 3-pointer from Carla Thomas to knot the score at 77-all with 1:36 left. A pair of free throws from each side upped the score to 79-79 with 1:09 to play. Each team had a chance to score, but shots were off the mark and with time winding down Gorbunova grabbed the offensive board off of a DeMondt 3-point attempt and dashed the Croatian team's upset hopes.

Sancho Lyttle led Halcon with 24 points and 15 rebounds, Willingham posted 19 points and nine boards, and DeMondt closed with nine points. Gorbunova scored seven points and grabbed just one rebound " her team's biggest one of the game. Jelavic posted a game-best 28 points and dished out 11 assists, while Thomas finished with 24 points and six rebounds in the loss.

Wisla Can-Pack Krakow 74, MiZo Pécs 2010 71
Wisla Can-Pack Krakow narrowly escaped having their undefeated record marred and came away with a 74-71 victory over MiZo Pécs 2010 in Hungary, thanks to a 7-2 game-closing run. Trailing 42-39 after the halftime break, MiZo took the lead midway through the third quarter and held on for a 56-53 edge with 10 minutes to play. The fourth quarter saw five tied scores over the opening seven minutes of play and at 2:40 MiZo broke a 67-67 tie on a Dalma Ivanyi layup. However, the lead was short lived as the Czech's Katerina Zohnova sparked a game-ending 7-2 run with a three with 1:41 to play, putting Wisla in the lead for good, 70-69. Janel Burse hit a layup and a jumper in the final minute, then blocked a MiZo 3-point attempt with three seconds to go and Wisla hung onto their perfect record. Spain's Marta Fernandez was the game's top scorer with 25 points, Poland's Ewelina Kobryn scored 14, Burse finished with 13 points and six boards, and Brazil's Izi Castro Marques contributed 11 points in the win. MiZo received 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists from Anna Vajda, while the USA's Nicole Ohlde added 17 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Group C
After its Cinderella run to the EuroLeague Final Four last year, MKB Euroleasing has slipped far from its 2009 perch. However, at 2-5 in a group that is very up in the air in terms of standings, MKB still has a slim chance of advancing to this year's next round. Taking the Sopron's spot as the surprise story this year in Group C is Rivas Ecópolis (7-0). In its first season in the league, Rivas wasted no time taking advantage of its entry, running out to a perfect start to the season. ZVVZ USK Prague (4-3) is sitting in second place in the standings, but by no means is it assured of a playoff spot in the balanced bracket as four teams, including Bourges Basket (3-4), Good Angels Kosice (3-4) and KSSSE AZS-PWSZ Gorzow (2-5) have a chance to advance.

KSSSE AZS-PWSZ Gorzow 79, MKB Euroleasing 72
On the strength of its second (21-15) and fourth (20-15) quarters, KSSSE AZS-PWSZ Gorzow managed to earn its second win of the year with a 79-72 defeat of MKB Euroleasing Sopron. A Sidney Spencer 3-pointer broke a 67-67 tie with less than four minutes to play and sparked a 12-3 run that gave the home team a virtual win with 14 seconds to play. Spencer, who scored seven points in that run, scored 15 points in the game. Russian Liudmila Sapova hit for a team-high 20 points, while Aussie Sam Richards contributed 12 points in the win. The Hungarian team had four players score in double digits, including Sopron native Katalin Honti's 14 points and fellow Hungarian Dora Horti posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Bourges Basket 83, Good Angels Kosice 71
Bourges got back on track after losing three straight and upped its record to 3-4 with an 83-71 victory over Good Angesl Kosice, while the visitors dropped to 3-4. Bourges went up 21-14 after the first quarter and still held a seven point lead at halftime, 42-35. Bourges continued to increase its lead in the third quarter to 64-50 and cruised through the fourth quarter for the win. Essence Carson fueled Bourges in its win with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists; while Greece's Stella Kaltsidou scored a season-high 18 points. Angel McCoughtry scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Kosice, German Linda Fröhlich contributed 17 points and Candice Dupree added 14 points and nine boards.

Rivas Ecópolis 94, ZVVZ USK Prague 56
Rivas Ecópolis demolished ZVVZ USK Prague 94-56 to extend its winning EuroLeague streak. Running out to a 25-12 lead at the first quarter break and 28-24 by halftime, the game was never in doubt. Crystal Langhorne led Rivas with 25 points and seven rebounds, while Jelena Dubljevic added 24 points and Catherine Joens added 18 points to the cause. Lindsay Whalen scored 10 points and was the only Prague player to score in double digits.

Group D
Not surprisingly, Spartak (6-0) retained its lead in Group D and Diana Taurasi retained her hold as the EuroLeague's top scorer this season. The tie near the top of the Group D standings was broken as Fenerbache upped its record to 5-2 with a win over Frisco Sika Brno (4-3) to move into second and Brno stands in third place. The last slot for playoff advancement will go to one of three teams: LOTOS Gdynia (2-5), Tarbes GB (2-5) or Szeviép (1-5).

Spartak Moscow Region 94, Szeviép 51
Diana Taurasi, who shot 9-of-12 from the field on the night, scored 20 of her game-high 24 points in the first half to lead Spartak to a dominating 94-51 victory over Szeviép. In a game in which Spartak never trailed, the hosts ran out to a 44-20 halftime lead and never looked back. USA National Team member Sylvia Fowles scored eight points and pulled down six boards. Russian Ilona Korstine was the only other Spartak player to score in double digits with 11 points and six boards.

Fenerbache SK 86, Frisco Sika Brno 70
The tie in the Group D standings between these two was broken as Fenerbache took the 86-70 victory over Frisco Sika Brno. The host team trailed early, but a Nicole Powell 3-pointer put her team in front for good with less than three minutes elapsed in the game. Fener went on to lead 29-22 at the first quarter break, increased the lead to 49-36 at halftime and held a stunning 76-50 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Fener got 16 points from the line on 17 tries, while Brno was given just eight trips to the charity stripe. Turkish national Nevriye Yilmaz led the way with 20 points. Fener was also aided by 16 points from Powell and Australian Penny Taylor added 15.

Tarbes GB 81, LOTOS Gdynia 67
Holding a slim 59-55 lead with 10 minutes to play, Tarbes GB out-gunned visiting LOTOS 22-12 in the final period to take the 81-67 victory. Charde Houston had a huge 27-point, 8-rebound output for Tarbes in helping her squad get back on track after a five-game losing skid. Alana Beard and Serbian Ivana Matovic top-scored with 19 points apiece in the Polish side's loss.