EuroLeague Week 4 Update: Candace Parker Posts Double-Double, Three Teams Still Undefeated

Nov. 15, 2012

Stats Don't Lie
Four of the top five EuroLeague scoring leaders are Americans who have won at least one gold medal playing for USA Basketball. Jumping into first place this week is Shenise Johnson (21.5 ppg.), who won gold with the 2009 USA U19 World Championship Team; No. 3 Nneka Ogwumike (18.8 ppg.) is a 2009 U19 and 2011 USA World University Games gold medalist; three-time Olympci gold medalist Diana Taurasi (18.0 ppg.) dropped to No. 4; and No. 5 DeWanna Bonner (17.5 ppg.), who won gold at the 2007 FIBA U21 Worlds, rounds out the top five scorers. Click here to see how your favorite USA Basketball players stack up against their Euro counterparts.

Players of the Week
USA Basketball National Team members Tina Charles, Candice Dupree and Diana Taurasi have each snagged one EuroLeague Player of the Week honor in the first three weeks of the season. Week 4 Player of the Week went to Croatia's Mirna Mazic, who produced 24 points and 14 rebounds in Novi Zagreb's loss to ZVVZ USK Prague, and beat out the USA's Candace Parker by one efficiency point.

Spartak Continues Winning Ways in EuroLeague
Despite coming up short in its last two Russian league contests, Spartak Moscow Region Vidnoje (4-0) remained perfect in EuroLeague action. Going up 27-16 in the first stanza, the hosts continued to cruise as it defeated the visiting BK IMOS Brno (1-2) 95-63. Four players posted double-digit scoring efforts for Spartak, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Seimone Augustus, who had 11 points in 15 minutes. Additionally, 2010 FIBA World Championship gold medalist Candice Dupree played 14 minutes and contributed nine points, four rebounds and three assists. Swedish national Farhiya Abdi top scored for Brno with 24 points in 38 minutes of action.

Parker Powers Ekat To Victory
A double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds by Candace Parker paced UMMC Ekaterinburg (3-0) to a 66-57 victory over visiting CCC Polkowice (1-3). The second quarter was the difference maker as Ekat, with the help of eight points from Parker, outscored CCC 25-7. After leading the team for its first three games, Diana Taurasi had an off night, but Parker was there to lift the team to victory and also contributed four assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Nneka Ogwumike continues to impress in her Euro rookie season and capped the night with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Whalen & Gala Remain Undefeated
A mere months from winning her first Olympic gold medal, Lindsay Whalen contributed 15 points, five boards and three assists as Galatasaray (4-0) remained perfect in Group C with a 58-47 win over USO Mondeville (2-1).

The hosts, which are still without the services of a rehabbing Sylvia Fowles, found themselves trailing the French club 31-26 at the half. However, Gala knotted the score at 34-all early in the third and a Whalen layup at 6:24 pushed her Turkish squad ahead for good, 36-34.

“(It was) a really hard and strong game for us,” Whalen was quoted on FIBAEurope.com. “We made a comeback in the second half and really fought. We played as a team. I think we did that and we got the win.”

Targoviste Picks Up First Victory
Despite a 13-point, 17-rebound performance from DeWanna Bonner and a 14-point, 11-assist double-double from Renee Montgomery, Nadezhda (2-2) dropped a close 79-76 game to host Municipal Targoviste (1-2) of Romania.

“We didn't expect to lose this game, but we traveled a lot in the last days,” Montgomery told FIBAEurope.com. “It was a great atmosphere, an excellent game, congratulations to the winner.”

ZVVZ USK Prague Notches First Win
ZVVZ USK Prague (1-3), which revamped its roster in the offseason, finally notched a win after clipping Novi Zagreb (0-3) 79-71 in Croatia. Rebekkah Brunson helped her Czech club with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Kia Vaughn pitched in 10 points and 11 boards.

Fourth Quarter Powers Fener to Victory
A 28-15 fourth-quarter barrage, during which time Angel McCoughtry posted eight points, three rebounds, one assist and a steal, propelled Fenerbache (2-1) to a 77-71 victory over the visiting UE Sopron (1-3). Agnieszka Bibrzycka top scored for Fener with 13 points, McCoughtry finished with 11 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals; while Cappie Pondexter contributed 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. The current EuroLeague scoring leader Shenise Johnson (21.5 ppg.) had a double-double of 20 points, 10 caroms and four steals for Sopron.

In Other Games …
Bourges Basket (3-1) hit 3-of-4 from the line in the final 11 seconds to seal a 65-61 victory and keep EuroLeague newcomer Tarsus (0-3) winless. In a game that was close from the start, Bourges’ 17-11 third quarter assault was the key to victory. Bourges was led by Sweden’s Frida Eldebrink with 18 points, while France’s Olympic silver medalist Emmeline Ndongue added 10 points, seven boards and three steals. Americans Danielle Robinson and DeLisha Milton-Jones posted 16 and nine points, respectively, for Tarsus … Hosts Rivas Ecopolis (2-1) knocked off Uni Gyor (2-2) 84-65 in a game that tipped at midnight to avoid conflicting strikes in Spain. Anna Cruz sank 19 points to lift her team to victory, while Chay Shegog scored 13 points for the visitors from Hungary … Jantel Lavender poured in 20 points to lead Famila Schio (4-0) to a whopping 74-49 victory over winless Arras (0-3)