Five Teams Book EuroLeague Quarterfinal Tickets

Feb. 9, 2010 - 2009-10 EuroLeague Results

In the second 2010 EuroLeague Sweet Sixteen games, five teams completed the two-game sweep necessary to advance to the next round of EuroLeague playoffs, while six teams still must play the third and final tie-breaking contest on Wednesday to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. As expected, Spartak Moscow Region, led by Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Diana Taurasi, upped its undefeated streak this season to 12 and Taurasi continued her stranglehold on the league's top scoring spot. UMMC Ekaterinburg, featuring Candace Parker and Cappie Pondexter, also eased into the next round, sending USA teammate Tamika Catchings and Galatasaray out of this year's competition. Additionally, DeLisha Milton-Jones aided Ros Casares to the quarterfinals; Candice Dupree and Angel McCoughtry helped Good Angels Kosice to another close victory over Beretta-Famila for the Slovakian's first quarterfinal berth in EuroLeague history; while Fenerbache, with the help of Nicole Powell, won its two games by a close 5.5 ppg. margin.

After falling in the first of the best-of-three Sweet Sixteen series, MiZo Pécs 2010, Bourges Basket and Rivas Ecópolis evened the series to keep their playoff hopes alive against Wisla Can-Pack, Halcon Avenida and Frisco Sika Brno, respectively.

Broken Records
Diana Taurasi has now led the EuroLeague for scoring throughout the entire season and is currently scoring at a clip of 22.2 points an outing. Trailing Taurasi in the No. 2 position is Angel McCoughtry (20.0 ppg.), followed by Candice Dupree (19.0 ppg.), Crystal Langhorne (17.8 ppg.) and Sancho Lyttle (17.7 ppg.). We're not sure if the EuroLeague keeps records on the most weeks in the No. 1 position, but we're pretty sure Taurasi would be among the tops on that list.

Triplets
Facing a must-win situation if her team had any hopes of advancing to the next round, Hungary's Dalma Ivanyi, who played games in five WNBA seasons, led MiZo Pecs 2010 to victory with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point, while also grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists for the league's first triple-double of the season.

Spartak Moscow Region 91, LOTOS Gdynia 69
After falling behind by six points, 19-13, Spartak Moscow Region outscored the hosts 27-14 in the second quarter and went on to secure a 91-69 victory over LOTOS Gdynia and a berth in the quarterfinals.

Spartak spent the first six minutes of the second quarter mounting a comeback and after a Diana Taurasi 3-pointer at 3:37 tied the game at 31-all, LOTOS called for a timeout. The break didn't stem the Spartak tide. The WNBA Sun and Latvia's Anete Jekabsone-Zogota nailed a three and Janel McCarville followed with a jumper and with 2:42 to play before halftime Spartak was in front 36-31 and starting to click. By halftime Spartak's lead was 40-33. Early in the third period LOTOS still remained hopeful of pulling off an upset, trailing just 48-42 with 6:20 left in the period. But Taurasi got a steal and layup, Sue Bird netted a three and Russia's Ilona Korstin knocked down a jumper on a Bird assist as Spartak opened the game up 55-42. Outscoring LOTOS 10-6 to close the period up 65-48, Spartak continued to hold off the hosts and kept its undefeated season alive.

-Lotos started very strong but our bench players did a great job," said McCarville. -Diana Taurasi was amazing."

Taurasi, who loves the big games, came up big against LOTOS with 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the floor, including a remarkable 5-of-10 from 3-point, while also grabbing four boards, dishing out three assists and coming up with a pair of steals. McCarville posted 13 points, seven rebounds and nine steals, Bird finished with seven points and eight assists, Jekabsone-Zogota and Korstine each chipped in eight points, while the USA's Sylvia Fowles grabbed eight rebounds and was held to just two points (1-3 FGs). Serbian Ivana Matovic top-scored for the Polish side with 18 points.

Tamika Catchings

UMMC Ekaterinburg 61, Galatasaray 50
In a closely contested contest, UMMC Ekaterinburg defeated the hosts Galatasaray 61-50 in Turkey. The score went back and for the through the first 13 minutes of play until an Ann Wauters 3-pointer put Ekat in the lead for good, 17-16, and by halftime the Russian squad pulled ahead to 27-21. However, Galatasaray continued to fight back and managed to make up some ground, closing the gap to just four points at the end of the third period, 44-40. With 5:44 to play Tamika Catchings hit both her attempts from the charity stripe and Ekaterinburg's lead was down to three points, 48-45. Forty-three seconds later Turkey's Nilay Yigit made good on a pair of free throws and with 5:01 to play Galatasaray was closer to an upset, 48-47. However, a Cappie Pondexter jumper halted what was a 7-0 Gala run, but Sophia Young answered with a pair from the line and with 3:04 remaining Ekat's lead was still one point, 50-49. Deanna Nolan gave Ekaterinburg a little breathing room and following a Gala turnover, Pondexter added to the lead with two points. Candace Parker then got a steal and a layup as Ekaterinburg went up 56-49 to take the wind out of Gala's sails at 1:37. Catchings drew a foul at 1:31, but was able to make just the first of her attempts. Russia's Maria Stepanova was there for the rebound and France's Celine Dumerc hit a 3-pointer, giving Ekat a 59-50 advantage with a minute to play. Following a Gala turnover, Pondexter got another layin from a Parker assist to ice any upset hopes and Ekaterinburg came away with the 61-50 victory.

Parker and Pondexter were the only two Ekaterinburg players to score in double digits with 17 and 12 points, respectively. Dumerc, who hit both of her tries from afar, Nolan and Wauters finished with six points apiece.

Catchings and Young posted 15 points apiece in the loss.

Candace Parker goes up to block a Tamika Catchings shot.

Ros Casares Valencia 85, ZVVZ USK Prague 74
Ros Casares quickly put distance between itself and its Czech hosts and used that to hold off ZVVZ USK Prague 85-74.

DeLisha Milton-Jones scored 11 of her eventual game-high 18 points as Ros jumped out to a 24-12 lead in the first quarter. The remainder of the quarters were more evenly matched as Ris won the second quarter 17-26, the third was tied 23-23 and ZVVZ USK took the fourth quarter 23-21.

Spain's Laia Palau and Amaya Valdemoro added 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Ros. Czech's Katerina Elhotova was her side's leading scorer with 13 points, while USA National Team hopeful Lindsay Whalen scored 12 points.

Good Angels Kosice 65, Beretta-Famila Schio 59
After winning their first victory ever in EuroLeague playoff history, Good Angels Kosice went one better and advanced for the first time to the quarterfinals after holding off a determined Beretta-Famila Schio for a 65-59 victory.

DeLisha Milton-Jones

The momentum and lead swung back and forth for most of the first half and with just under four minutes to go before the midway break Katarina Hrickova's jumper broke a tie and gave the Good Angels the lead for good, 26-24. By halftime the lead inched out to six points, 39-33. Winning the third quarter 15-10, Good Angels entered the final stanza with an 11-point, 54-43, advantage. Beretta-Famila mounted a comeback attempt, slowly erased the deficit and with four minutes to play cut it to 58-54 on a pair of free throws. Neither team was able to convert in the next two minutes until a Lucia Kupcikova 2-pointer finally broke the scoring drought and extended the lead to 60-54 with 1:52 on the clock. However, on Schio's next trip up the court Mudju Ngoyisa converted a traditional 3-point play, closing to 60-57. Beretta-Famila was held scoreless as Good Angels went 5-of-6 from the line and with 10 seconds remaining Candice Dupree iced the game with the final two from the line to put her team up 65-57. Laura Macchi drove for a layup for the game's final points, but time ran out on Schio as Good Angels celebrated the 65-59 win in front of their home fans.

Dupree finished as Kosice's high scorer with 15 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals; Angel McCoughtry scored 12 points, hauled in six boards and was credited for four steals, while Miljana Musovic also contributed 12 points in the win. Ngoyisa finished with game-highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Macchi scored 17 points.

Fenerbache 60, Cras Basket Taranto 55
Fenerbache survived a late comeback attempt, but held off Cras Basket Taranto for the 60-55 victory and the right to advance to the next round. After jumping out to a 35-19 halftime lead, Fener entered the final stanza still holding a double-digit lead, 48-35. Australia's Penny Taylor scored first to up the lead to 50-35, but a trio of 3-pointers in a 17-7 run helped the hosts close the gap to five points with two minutes to play, 57-52. N. Yilmaz bumped the lead up to 59-52 at 1:41, but with 46 seconds remaining, former UCLA star Michele Greco nailed another three to close to four points, 59-55. With time of the essence, Fener's E. Tuncluer was fouled, but only made one and with 30 seconds to go the ball was back in Taranto's hands. However they weren't able to put points up in the final 30 seconds and Fener came away with the win.

Fener was led in the win by 17 points from Taylor, Nicole Powell scored 15, and Tuncluer and Yilmaz each chipped in 10 points.

Candice Dupree

MiZo Pécs 2010 68, Wisla Can-Pack 64
After running out to a 10-point, 38-28, halftime lead, MiZo Pecs 2010 saw its lead slip away in the third quarter as Wisla Can-Pack stormed back to take the lead 54-51. However, MiZo scored seven straight points to open the fourth quarter to retake the lead, 58-54, and managed to hold the visitors at bay the rest of the period for the eventual 68-64 victory.

As mentioned above, Hungary's Dalma Ivanyi led her team to victory with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point, while also grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists for the league's first triple-double of the season. The USA's Nicole Ohlde was the only other MiZo player to post double digits, adding 14 points and seven rebounds.

Wisla, which shot 22-of-31 from the line as compared to MiZo's 9-of-12, was led by 16 points apiece from Janell Burse and Spain's Marta Fernandez, while Brazil's Izi Castro Marques added 14 in the loss.

Bourges Basket 69, Halcon Avenida 64
Despite a dominating 20-point, 16-rebound performance from Sancho Lyttle, Bourges Basket clipped 2009 EuroLeague Final Four participant Halcon Avenida 69-64 to force Game 3 of the series.

After going back and forth in the opening minutes, Bourges took the lead for good with 5:23 to play in the first quarter, 13-12. However, the hosts were never able to pull away by more than nine points as each time a run was made, Halcon Avenida closed the gap and with 5:17 remaining, Bourges' lead was four points, 57-53. Following a Bourges basket, Lyttle was sent to the line, but made just one and the lead was up to five points, 59-54, with 3:25 to play and a minute later the board still showed a five-point difference, 61-56. In the final 41 seconds, with Halcon forced to foul, Bourges kept its lead by hitting 8-of-10 from the line and held on for the win.

Greece's Styliani Kaltsidou paced the winners with 16 points and six rebounds. Le'Coe Willingham added 13 points and six rebounds in the defeat.

Angel McCoughtry

Rivas Ecópolis 67, Frisco Sika Brno 64
Playing on the road, Rivas Ecopolis dug itself out of an early 11-point hole to edge Frisco Sika Brno 67-64 and force a third Eighth-Finals game. Crystal Langhorne led Rivas to victory with 19 points and eight rebounds.

After falling behind 21-10 at the end of the first quarter, thanks to a 10-0 quarter-ending spurt from the Brno squad, Rivas strung together 14 unanswered points to open the second quarter and take a 24-21 lead with 3:47 to go before the break. By halftime the visitors still led, 30-29. The hosts retook the lead at the beginning of the second half, but Rivas went on top for good, 34-33, on a Clara Bermejo Moreno jumper two minutes into the period. However, Rivas wasn't able to pull away and at the end of the period held a 51-46 edge. The visitors expanded their lead to 57-47 with 6:26 to play, but Brno struck back as DeWanna Bonner scored five points in a 10-2 run that brought the hosts to within two points, 59-57, with 3:39 left. From there the teams traded points and with Brno trailing 64-59 with 1:09 remaining, Hana Horakova was perfect on four tries at the line to pull her team to 64-63 with 17 seconds to play. In the final seconds of the contest Rivas secured its victory by hitting 3-of-4 from the line, while Brno made just 1-of-2 and missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the end.

Bonner scored a game-high 27 points and Taj McWilliams-Franklin hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds in the loss.