Eight Teams Remain in the EuroLeague Championship Hunt

February 9, 2011

• USA EuroLeague Updates: 11/5 || 11/11 || 11/17 || 11/30 || 12/2 || 12/16 || 1/14 || 1/20 || 2/1 || 2/9
• 2010-11 EuroLeague Schedule & Results
• Select USA Basketball Players -- EuroLeague Stats
• EuroLeague Links: Teams || Players || Stats || Results & Standings

2011 EuroLeague All-Stars
Four USA National Team members earned starting nods for the 2011 EuroLeague All-Star Game, to be played on March 8 in Gdynia, Poland. Seimone Augustus, Candice Dupree, Sylvia Fowles and Angel McCoughtry will suit up as starters for the 2011 Rest of the World Team, alongside 2010 USA Select Team member Monica Wright. Additionally, USA National Team members Rebekkah Brunson, Tina Charles and Sue Bird will play for the Rest of the World. The final four Rest of the World All-Stars are Dewanna Bonner, Catherine Joens, Megan Mahoney and Allie Quigley.

Named as starters for the Europe All-Star Team were Celine Dumerc, Sandrine Gruda, Sancho Lyttle, Alba Torrens and Amaya Valdemoro; while Elina Babkina, Liron Cohen, Hana Horakova, Ewelina Kobryn, Yelena Leuchanka, Eva Viteckova and Justyna Zurowska have been named as subs.

Through to the Quarterfinals
Eight teams and five USA Basketball Women’s National Team members are still battling in the 2010-11 EuroLeague season. Angel McCoughtry and the new-look Fenerbache will face Sue Bird and four-time defending EuroLeague champs Spartak  Moscow Region; Ros Casares and Rebekkah Brunson meet up against Bourges Basket; Halcon Avenida Salamanca has drawn Wisla Can-Pack; while Candace Parker, Cappie Pondexter and UMMC Ekaterinburg will play Cras Basket Taranto.

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:

• No. 1 Fenerbache vs. No. 8 Spartak
• No. 2 Ros Casares vs. No. 7 Bourges Basket
• No. 3 Halcon Avenida vs. No. 6 Wisla Can-Pack
• No. 4 UMMC Ekaterinburg vs. No. 5 Cras Basket Taranto

Fenerbahce 73, Galatasaray Medical Park 51
As predicted, Fenerbache (12-0) advanced past Galatasaray Medical Park (4-8) by sweeping the series. Fener started off on a 14-2 tear and eventually finished off Gala 73-51. Fener, which shot 8-of-11 from 3-point range, received 16 points apiece from Ivana Matovic and Esmeral Tuncluer, while Angel McCoughtry, who managed just 3-of-10 from the field, contributed seven points, six boards and a pair of steals in the victory. After winning the last two EuroLeague titles with Spartak Moscow Region, Sylvia Fowles bowed out of EuroLeague play after scoring a team-best 14 points and adding six boards and two blocks, while Seimone Augustus was held to just four points and had four turnovers in the loss.

Ros Casares 84, MKB Euroleasing 56
Katie Douglas poured in 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals to lead Ros Casares Valencia (10-3) past MKB Euroleasing Sopron (5-8) 86-63 and into the quarterfinals. Ros outscored MKB 19-11 in the second quarter to take a 43-31 halftime lead and continued to pull away in the second half for the win.  Also aiding in Ros’ win was Rebekkah Brunson, who scored 10 points, hauled in six rebounds and dished out four assists. Sopron forced the Game 3 after taking a narrow 72-70 win in the second game to even the series.

Halcon Avenida 73, Pécs 2010 66
Halcon Avenida (10-2) swept its series against Pécs 2010 (5-7) and advanced to the quarterfinals behind a 22-point, 10-rebound performance by Sancho Lyttle in the 73-66 victory in Hungary. The hosts kept the game close throughout the majority of the contest and with 2:19 to play, Pécs trailed by one, 64-63, after netting back-to-back threes. However, their shooting turned cold – Pécs missed five straight shots and Halcon took advantage. Getting an and-one, followed by two more free throws, Halcon boosted its lead to 69-63 and pushed that to 73-63 with 16 seconds remaining. Pécs finally found the bottom of the net, a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it was too late as Halcon Avenida advanced.

Pécs was led by Allie Quigley’s 23 points, while Kelsey Griffin added 14 points and 11 rebouonds.

UMMC Ekaterinburg 83, Rivas Ecópolis 74 (OT)
UMMC Ekaterinburg (10-2) earned an 83-74 overtime victory over Rivas Ecópolis (5-7) to advance to the quarterfinals. Cappie Pondexter fueled Ekat’s victory with a team-high (tie) 19 points and team-bests of seven points and seven assists. She scored seven of her team’s 13 overtime points, including the first four, while Candace Parker, who finished with 16 points and six rebounds, netted four points in OT.

Halcon held a four-point, 70-66, lead with 55 ticks remaining in regulation, but a Sandrine Gruda jumper was followed quickly by a Celine Dumerc steal and layup that knotted the score at 70-all with 34 seconds to play. Neither team was able to convert and Olga Arteshina’s potential game-winning three for Ekat missed its mark just before the buzzer sounded.

Dewanna Bonner led Halcon with 22 points, while Courtney Paris, who capped EuroLeague play with averages of 11.4 ppg. and 8.3 rpg. scored 18 points and grabbed eight boards.

Cras Basket Taranto 83, ZVVZ USK Prague 49
Cras Basket Taranto (10-3) stormed into the quarterfinals with an 83-49 victory over ZVVZ USK Prague (6-7), after also narrowly earning a 75-73 victory in the second game of the series. DeLisha Milton-Jones had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Lindsay Whalen had nine points and six boards in their final EuroLeague game of the season.

Wisla Can-Pack 72, Nadezhda 63
Despite receiving 19 points and eight rebounds from Tina Charles, Nadezhda (5-7) closed out its EuroLeague season with a 72-63 loss to Wisla Can-Pack (9-3). As has been the case for much of the season, Nadezhda started strong and led 52-51 at the end of three quarters.  However, the Russian squad began to falter and Wisla broke open a tie with a 3-pointer at 5:33 to move ahead for good, 57-54. With just over a minute to play the Polish side was up by nine points, 69-60, and that proved too much to overcome. Australia’s Erin Phillips was the leading scorer for Wisla with 22 points.

Bourges Basket 76, Good Angels Kosice 68
After falling behind in the second quarter, Bourges Basket (9-4) put together another come-from-behind victory over  Candice Dupree and the visiting Good Angels Kosice (6-7) and took the 79-68 victory. Styliani Kaltsidou led Bourges with 23 points, while Crystal Langhorne posted a team-best 20 points and had eight rebounds, and Dupree finished with 14 rebounds and six assists, but was held to a season-low two points.

Spartak Moscow Region Vidnoje 65, Beretta-Famila 60
After Beretta-Famila Schio (7-6) picked up a narrow 66-64 win in the second game, Spartak Moscow Region (8-5) came back to take the third game and a spot in the quarterfinals with a 69-63 win. Sue Bird poured in 18 points for Spartak, while Taj McWilliams-Franklin posted 14 points and nine rebounds. Janel McCarville contributed 18 points in her team’s loss.