EuroLeague Sweet 16 Underway

February 1, 2011

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Of the eight games played today, seven host teams collected victories. The only upset of the day came at the hands of visiting ZVVZ USK Prague, a No. 12 seed, which downed Italian outfit and No. 5 seed Cras Basket Taranto 73-56. The remaining seven games in this best-of-three Sweet Sixteen playoff series saw the home side, the top seed, claim victory.

The second game in this round will be played on Friday and, if necessary, the Round of Sixteen will close out on Feb. 9.

The quarterfinals are also played in a best-of-three series on Feb. 22 and 25 and, if necessary, March 2; while the Final Four is April 8 and 10.

Below are the match-ups for the Quarterfinals:

• The winner of No. 1 Fenerbache vs. No. 16 Galatasaray will meet up against the winner of No. 8 Spartak vs. No. 9 Beretta Famila
• The winner of No. 2 Ros Casares vs. No 15 MKB Euroleasing will meet up against the winner of No. 7 Bourges Basket vs. No. 10 Good Angels
• The winner of No. 3 Halcon Avenida vs. No. 14 Pecs 2010 will meet up against the winner of No. 6 Wisla Can-Pack vs. No. 11 Nadezhda
• The winner of No. 4 UMMC Ekaterinburg vs. No. 14 Rivas Ecopolis will meet up against the winner of No. 5 Cras Basket vs. No. 12 ZVVZ USK Prague

Fenerbahce 77, Galatasaray MP 58
Despite a myriad of changes over the last month, Fenerbache (11-0) remained undefeated after trouncing Galatasaray (4-7) 77-58. Nevriye Yilmaz led the way for Fener with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists; while Angel McCoughtry scored 13 points, had five rebounds and four steals.

Gala, which was paced by 19 points from Seimone Augustus and six points and 13 rebounds from Sylvia Fowles, remained within striking distance at the midway break, 36-33. However, Fener roared out of the locker room, reeled off 11 straight points for a comfortable 47-33 cushion at 4:25. Gala kept pace, but in the end wasn’t able to make a comeback run and returned home with the loss.

Ros Casares 84, MKB Euroleasing 56
After starting out in a close first-half battle, Ros Casares (9-2) rolled to an 84-56 victory over MKB Euroleasing Sopron (4-7). Ahead 44-38 at the end of the half, Ros dominated the second half 40-18 for the victory.

Rebekkah Brunson paved the way for Ros with 16 points and 12 boards, while Edwige Lawson also scored 16 points and Katie Douglas added 15 for the winning side. Marissa Coleman notched a double-double of 14 points and 12 boards for the Hungarian club.

Halcon Avenida 76, Pécs 2010 60
After getting off to a slow start, Halcon Avenida (9-2) began to build up a lead, going up 36-27 at halftime, but Pecs (5-6) fought back to within three, 50-47 at the end of three quarters. However, the hosts refocused and pulled out a 26-13 scoring spurt in the fourth quarter for the victory.

The Spanish club received double-digit points from five players, including 16 from Erika De Souza, Anika De Mondt and Alba Torrens each chipped in 15, Belinda Snell scored 14 and Sancho Lyttle added 13 points.

Pecs, meanwhile, was paced by Allie Quigley’s 22 points and Kelsey Griffin added 10 points.

UMMC Ekaterinburg 63, Rivas Ecópolis 58
UMMC Ekaterinburg (9-2) went up 1-0 in the playoffs, but as predicted, it wasn’t easy. UMMC edged a tough Rivas Ecópolis (5-6) 63-58 in Ekaterinburg. The next game of the series will be played in Spain and using its home court advantage, Rivas could pull the series even.

Sandrine Gruda powered the stacked UMMC past Rivas with a 21-point, 8-rebound performance; while DeWanna Bonner produced 19 points and nine boards for Rivas.

In a close battle to the end, Rivas held a 31-30 edge at the midway point, but Ekat pulled ahead by two points, 47-45 after three periods. A Courtney Paris jumper early in the fourth quarter pushed Rivas ahead, 50-47.  However, UMMC fired back with a 10-0 run and led 57-50 with 5:46 to play. Rivas did not back down and behind seven points from Bonner pulled to 60-58 with 2:50 remaining. But it was not to be as Rivas missed six shots during the waning minutes and UMMC eked out the win.

In addition to Gruda, Candace Parker scored 10 points and had seven rebounds and three steals, Cappie Pondexter scored nine points and dished out three assists, while former UConn standout Svetlana Abrosimova also scored nine and grabbed five boards.

Rivas also received 12 points and seven rebounds from Paris, while Amaya Valdemoro scored 11 points and pulled in seven caroms.

ZVVZ USK Prague 73, Cras Basket Taranto 56
Thanks in part to a monstrous 23-6 third-quarter scoring burst, ZVVZ USK Prague (6-5) picked up the day’s lone upset with a 73-56 victory over Cras Basket Taranto (8-3) in Italy. We pegged this one as being the big upset among the pairings and so far, we’re right on target.

Prague was aided to victory by 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists from DeLisha Milton-Jones, while Lindsay Whalen added seven points and dished out eight assists. Kathy Wambe top scored for Cras Basket with 17 points.

Wisla Can-Pack 75, Nadezhda 70 (1OT)
Despite a 24-point, 12-rebound performance from Tina Charles, who also paced her squad with five assists, three steals and four blocked shots, Nadezhda (5-6) outscored hosts Wisla Can-Pack (8-3) 12-0 to end regulation and force overtime, but came up short in the extra period, 75-70.

The score was knotted at 68-all early in extra time, but Wisla scored six unanswered points and went on to record the win.

Former USA Basketball gold medalist Nicole Powell powered Wisla with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while USA National Team member Shameka Christon contributed 10 points in Nadezhda’s loss.

Bourges Basket 76, Good Angels Kosice 68
Bourges Basket (8-3) collected a come-from-behind 76-68 victory over Candice Dupree and the visiting Good Angels Kosice (5-6) and took the lead in the series. Trailing 58-52 heading into the final stanza, Bourges whittled away the gap and pulled ahead 62-60 on a Catherine Joens 3-pointer at 6:18. Good Angels got a three to go ahead less than a minute later, but Jones hit another three with 5:00 minutes to play to give her side the lead for good, 65-63. Good Angels kept it close and with two minutes to play, it was a two-point game, 70-68. However, the Slovakian team was forced to foul down the stretch and Bourges went 6-of-6 from the line for the 76-68 win.

Joens led her side, which had a balanced effort, to victory with 18 points and five rebounds. Crystal Langhorne posted a team-high 22 points and added six rebounds for Good Angels, while Dupree popped in 13 points and grabbed five boards.

Spartak Moscow Region Vidnoje 65, Beretta-Famila 60
Trailing 52-45 heading into the fourth quarter, Spartak (7-4) came from behind to snatch a 65-60 victory from Beretta-Famila (6-5) in Moscow.

Sue Bird got Spartak back on track with a traditional 3-point play at 8:47 in the fourth quarter and Sonja Petrovic followed with a layup that pulled Spartak to 52-50. After some back-and-forth scoring, Spartak closed to one, 57-56, with fewer than four minutes to play. With 2:02 showing on the clock, the score was knotted at 58-apiece. Jelena Milovanovic, who scored a team-high 23 points, put Spartak ahead for good with a pair of free throws. Taj McWilliams-Franklin stole the ball away from Berett-Famila, and Petrovic knocked down a three at 1:11 for some breathing room, 63-58. She followed that with a layin that pushed the lead to 65-58. Liron Cohen swished in a pair of free throws for the final score with 34 ticks on the clock, but time was on Spartak’s side as the Russian side came away with the win.

Bird finished with a game-best seven assists to go with 10 points and two steals, while McWilliams-Franklin had eight rebounds.

Former USA Basketball standout Janel McCarville posted 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Italian club, which also saw Cohen contribute 18 points.