Vote For Your Favorite Gold Medalists As EuroLeague All-Stars

December 16, 2010

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EuroLeague All-Star Voting Open
Cast your ballots daily for any one of the USA Basketball gold medalists to play on the 2011 Rest of the World Team in this season’s EuroLeague All-Star Game. You’ll have to chose your own five as we can’t cut it down to just five from the eight World Championship and/or Olympic gold medalists currently competing in the EuroLeague. The list includes Seimone Augustus, Tina Charles, Candice Dupree, Sylvia Fowles, Angel McCoughtry and Diana Taurasi. Listed among the ‘other players’ in the drop down list at the bottom of the page are Cappie Pondexter and Lindsay Whalen. All eight are having phenomenal All-Star-like seasons so make sure to VOTE NOW!  And VOTE DAILY!

Stats Leaders
Yes, we’re starting to sound like a broken record. Save for the first game of the season, Diana Taurasi has been atop the scoring board all season long. All this despite not playing in this week’s game due to being sick and resting. Cheryl Ford and Tina Charles have been swapping the lead for rebounds and Ford takes the top spot this week. Further, Angel McCoughtry poured in 39 points in a loss to Taurasi's squad this week, the new high-water point for single-game points scored in EuroLeague action this season. Here’s a look at where current and former USA Basketball athletes stand among the top 10 in a few statistical categories:

Week 8 Recaps

Group A
Good Angels Kosice 70, TTT Riga 48
Candice Dupree and Good Angels Kosice (5-3) picked up another win over TTT Riga (1-7) and are in good position in their group. However, in order to get the best seeding heading into the next round, Good Angels must defeat PÉCS 2010 (3-5) and Wisla Can-Pack Krakow (5-3) in their final two games to be assured of a good crossover matchup.

After holding a 33-29 lead heading into the midway break, Good Angels stormed out of their locker room on a 22-3 third-quarter scoring spree and never looked back. Charde Houston posted 19 points and nine rebounds, while USA World Championship Team member Candice Dupree notched a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. Shavonte Zellous scored a team-high 11 points for Riga.

Cras Basket Taranto 58, Wisla Can-Pack Krakow 57
Cras Basket Taranto (7-1) narrowly escaped a loss to Wisla Can-Pack Krakow (5-3), pulling out a 58-57 victory at home to keep its near-spotless record standing with just one loss on the year.

In a close battle throughout, Cras battled back from a 51-44 fourth-quarter deficit to snatch victory out of the hands of Wisla Can-Pack in the final minute. Trailing 57-56, Elodie Godin hit a jumper with 35 seconds remaining to give her team the victory. Godin finished with a team-high 14 points, while Australia’s Erin Phillips, whose potential game-winner with 22 seconds to go, was her team’s top scorer with 18 points.

Pécs 2010 66, USO Mondeville 62
Pécs 2010 (3-5) needed this victory to keep its advancing hopes alive, and it got it, winning 66-62 over USO Mondeville (3-5) to tie for the fourth and final advancing slot out of Group A. However, Pécs 2010 will have the most difficult final two games of the two teams, as it closes preliminary play against Good Angels and Cras Basket; while USO Mondeville has it just slightly easier with Cras Basket and TTT Riga. Zsófia Fegyverneky scored a team-high 18 points for Pécs, while Valeriya Berezhynska posted a high of 22 points for USO.

Group B
Fenerbache 92, MKB Euroleasing Sopron 81
Despite the absence of Diana Taurasi (sick, resting), undefeated Fenerbache (8-0) pulled out the 92-81 victory in Hungary over MKB Euroleasing Sopron (4-4) and Angel McCoughtry. Both teams will advance to the next round as they have been mathematically assured of advancing slots.

Fener held a four-point, 68-64, lead heading into the fourth quarter and a pair of McCoughtry free throws early in the fourth pulled her team to within two points, 68-66, but that was as close as they would come. Fener got four points off of successive steals and went up 72-66 at 8:25.  At the 6:16 mark McCoughtry netted a three and closed the gap to 78-75. But again Fener responded and with 2:23 to play, Sopron’s upset hopes were fading as Fener held an 89-77 advantage and held on for  the win.

McCoughtry was on fire, hitting 15-of-19 from the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point, and finished with a game-high 39 points and added eight rebounds. Fener’s Australian Penny Taylor nearly matched that with 37 points and seven boards.

Gospic Croatia 98, Lotos Gdynia 83
In a battle between the last-place teams, Gospic Croatia (1-7) came out ahead 98-83 over Lotos Gdynia (1-7). While there’s still a slim chance that one could finish fourth in the group, it’s not likely. Gospic closes with Rivas (3-5) and MKB (4-4) and Lotos’ final two contests are against Fener (8-0) and Rivas.

Gospic went up 29-16 after 10 minutes of play and held off a late Lotos attack for the victory. Maurita Reid led Gospic with a game-high 25 points, while Elina Babkina scored a team-high 15 in the loss.

UMMC Ekaterinburg 68, Rivas Ecópolis 60
UMMC Ekaterinburg (7-1) kept its winning streak going with a 68-60 victory after outscoring Rivas Ecópolis 22-13 in the final period. There’s no doubt that UMMC will advance, but the final game of the preliminary round will be at undefeated Fenerbache’s home court to determine who advances as the No. 1 team. Rivas should also advance as it closes play against the bottom two teams in the bracket, arguably the toughest of the four groups.

Cappie Pondexter poured in 21 points to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win, while Courtney Paris hit a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double for Rivas. It was not an easy win for Ekat, which went into the midway break up 30-29 after Pondexter’s three at the end of the half gave her team the lead. Rivas fought back in the third quarter and regained a one-point, 47-46, lead on a Paris jumper with six seconds on the clock. Pondexter, who went 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, opened the fourth period with a three that gave her side a lead it would never relinquish as the hosts went on to secure the victory over the visiting Rivas, who played without Spain’s injured Amaya Valdemoro.

Group C
VICI Aistes Kaunas 91, Galatasaray Medical Park 86
After defeating Spartak Moscow Region in overtime last week, the up and down Galatasaray Medical Park (3-5) dropped a heartbreaker to VICI Aistes (3-5), which knocked off Ros Casares last week, 91-86. The battle for fourth place in Group C is heating up with three teams standing at 3-5. Both teams have tough contests to close out the season and it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen in this wide-open group.

As much as VICI has been surging, Gala has been struggling, despite some incredible performances by Olympic gold medalists Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles, who dropped 20 and 19 points on VICI, respectively. One of the biggest differences in the game came from behind the arc: VICI hit 14 3-pointers, while Gala netted just five.

Vita Kuktiene led VICI with 26 points, 15 of which were from 3-point land.

Spartak Moscow Region 85, ZVVZ USK Prague 54
Spartak (5-3) pulled away early and never looked back, en route to an 85-54 victory over the visiting ZVVZ USK Prague (4-4). Epiphany Prince led Spartak with 18 points, while Katerina Elhotova had a game-high 15 for Prague. Prague’s Lindsay Whalen was held to just 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting, to go with four assists and a pair of steals; while DeLisha Milton Jones scored 14 points on a 6-of-20 night, and added nine rebounds.

Halcon Avenida Salamanca 87, Tarbes Gespe Bigorre 49
Halcon Avenida (6-2) had no problem riding an early lead to victory against Tarbes GB (3-5), 87-49. Halcon was led by Spanish World Championship Team bronze medalists Anna Montañana’s 16 points and Sancho Lyttle’s 15points; while Jelena Dubljevic tossed in a game-best 19 points in her side’s loss.

Group D
Frisco Sika Brno 71, KSSSE AZS-PWSZ Gorzow 64
The bottom two teams played each other this week, with Frisco Sika Brno (2-6) taking a 71-64 victory over KSSSE AZS-PWSZ Gorzow (2-6). There’s still a slim chance, albeit unlikely, that one of these teams could rise to fourth place in the group. However, they’d both have to beat some of the top teams, Gorzow faces Ros and the surging Nadezhda, while Brno faces Bourges and Ros.

Brno erased a five-point deficit in the fourth quarter and was on pace for the win, but Gorzow’s Agnieszka Skobel got 3-pointer off an assist from Kalana Greene to knot the game 58-all with six seconds remaining. Skobel then stole the ball on  the inbounds play to force overtime. Brno struck first in overtime and never trailed, outscoring the visitors 13-6 in the extra period to take the win.

Cheryl Ford, who scored four points in OT, posted 20 points and 11 rebounds for Brno, while Justyna Zurowska led Gorzow with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Skobel finished with 13 points and Greene had 12 and five boards.

Nadezhda 66, Bourges Basket 64
Behind Tina Charles, Nadezhda (4-4) is on a three-game winning streak and back in playoff contention after clipping Bourges Basket (3-5) 66-64. If Nadezdha can keep up its winning ways over the next two weeks, it’ll have the confidence it needs heading into the next round.

Nadezhda had faded in the second half in a few of its earlier losses, but fought of a late attack from Bourges, which won the fourth period 24-11, for the win. Holding a 55-40 advantage heading into the final stanza, Nadezhda started missing shots, while Bourges was surging on the other end and with 1:30 to play the score was tied, 60-60. But Nadezhda got back on the right track, hitting back-to-back threes to up the lead to 66-60 with 47 ticks on the clock, and held on for the  win.

Charles led the Russian squad with 22 points and nine rebounds, and Shameka Christon posted 16 points for the Russian Squad. Catherine Joens had a game-high 26 points, including Bourges’ final four.

Ros Casares Valencia 65, Beretta-Famila Schio 51
Ros Casares Valencia (6-2) retained the top spot in the group with a 65-51 victory over Beretta-Famila Schio (5-3). Rebekkah Brunson, who posted a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double, scored five points to spark a 10-0 run midway through the first half that gave Ros a 20-10 advantage. Ros was never again threatened and went on to secure the victory. Katie Douglas scored a team-high 18 points for  Ros, while Isabelle Yacoubou-Dehoui was Schio’s top scorer with 15 points.