The group stage of the tournament finished this week.
Group A:
Qualification in the group had already been decided, but Adana dealt a small blow to Besiktas on Wednesday with Amanda Zahui B leading the way in the 91-82 win in a battle of Turkish teams. On Thursday, Spartak Moscow finished the group stage with a 63-48 win over Piestanke Cajky.
Adana Aski vs. Besiktas 91-82 ADA Zahui B 29/7r Nacickaite 18 Campbell 12 De Souza 9 Williams 3 BES Grishaeva 18/7r Ivegin 16 Cora 15 Basaran 14/7r Pondexter 11/8r
Sparta&k M.R. Vidnoje vs. Piestanke Cajky 63-48 SPA Musina 14 Vadeeva 10/8r Meesseman 6/8r PIE Krc-Turbova 12 Engelman 9 Parker 8 Oroszova 3
Standings: Sparta&k M.R. Vidnoje 5-1, Besiktas 3-3, Adana Aski 2-4, Piestanke Cajky 2-4
Group B:
The group was settled on Thursday, as Orduspor left Udominate winless 87-68 with Tijana Krivacevic leading the way. Dynamo Moscow held on to a narrow 61-59 win over TTT Riga, but Ksenia Tikhonenko’s performance was not enough to flip tiebreakers, leaving the last team in the tournament in the group’s top spot.
Orduspor vs. Udominate 87-68 ORD Krivacevic 24 Akkaya 19/9r Milovanovic 19 Vandersloot 15 UDO Mershon 16 Nordstrom 12 Baletic 11/6r Gross 10/11r Kabengono 6
WBC Dynamo vs. TTT Riga 61-59 DYN Tikhonenko 23/11r Fedorenkova 14/7a TTT Carter 14 Eglite 11 Mann 6 Priede 0
Standings: TTT Riga 4-2, Orduspor 4-2, WBC Dynamo 4-2, Udominate 0-6
Group C:
The last spot was determined on Thursday and both teams played like there was a lot at stake, going to double overtime before homecourt advantage helped Edirnespor edge Chevakata 97-94. Each team relied on a trio as Ivory Latta, Nevena Jovanovic, and Milica Deura pushed their team to the win. Britney Jones, Elena Volkova, and Anete Steinberga nearly led their team to the next round. Enisey was already preparing for the new year as they kept Tsmoki-Minsk from even getting one win 79-56.
Edirnespor vs. Chevakata 97-94 (2OT) EDI Latta 32 Jovanovic 24/12r Deura 24 Dolson 6/12r CHE B. Jones 28/7r Volkova 25/7r Steinberga 24/10r
Enisey vs. Tsmoki-Minsk 79-56 ENI Gogiya 15 Hamson 14/7r Mayombo 10/7a TSM Paugaite 19/6r A. Jones 2
Standings: Enisey 5-1, Edirnespor 4-2, Chevakata 3-3, Tsmoki-Minsk 0-6
Group D:
Istanbul University completed a perfect group stage on Thursday with a 97-82 win over Lulea with Sasa Cado leading the way. That left Dunav with a chance to qualify, but they could not get the job done in Russia, letting Energia Ivanovo give their home fans at least one win before exiting the competition.
Istanbul Universitesi vs. Lulea 97-82 IST Cado 22 White 18/10a Mircheva 16/8r Bjelica 12/10r Ivegin 11 Williams 7/8r LUL Vanloo 20/6a Bussey 16/6r Barthold 16/6r Staalvant 16 Hamilton-Carter 6
Energia Ivanovo vs. Dunav 8806 67-60 IVA Medvedeva 16/7r Marchenkova 15 Fedorova 14/8r Hammonds 2 DUN Brandon 16/12r Stjepanovic 16/9r Dimitrova 11 Brooks 9
Standings: Istanbul Universitesi 6-0, Lulea 3-3, Dunav 8806 2-4, Energia Ivanovo 1-5
Group E:
On Wednesday, the last qualification place in the group was decided in Italy, where Reyer Venezia beat Wasserburg 80-60 to move on with help from Marie Ruzickova. Already qualified Nantes was all set to help its seeding in Hungary on Thursday, but Pecsi at least salvaged a win at home 64-56 with a late comeback as Binta Drammeh had another tremendous performance.
Reyer Venezia vs. TSV 1880 80-60 REY Ruzickova 22/12r Fontenette 12/6r Christmas 11/9r Dotto 11 WAS Lucet 10/12r De Kleijn 10 Brunckhorst 10 Peddy 8 Raincock-Ekunwe 7/8r Sten 0
Pinkk Pecsi 424 vs. Nantes Reze 64-56 PIN Drammeh 23/9r Tunstull 18/6r NAN Casas 14/8r Arrondo 13/6r Plouffe 11 Putnina 6/7r Thorburn 3/6r
Standings: Reyer Venezia 4-2, Nantes Reze 4-2, TSV 1880 3-3, Pinkk Pecsi 424 1-5
Group F:
Both games were on Thursday with not much to be decided. Egle Siksniute led Nymburk to an 82-61 win over Landes, helping their own seeding and handing the visitors their first loss which kept them from a top seed. Pecs avoided last place by winning 73-63 at Fribourg.
Nymburk vs. Landes 82-61 NYM Siksniute 25/8r Khomenchuk 12/10r Kuster 10/8r Taylor 7 LAN Sliskovic 14 Basko-Melnbarde 10 Ayim 9 Guzman 7
Elfic Fribourg vs. PEAC-Pecs 63-73 FRI Davis 18/6r Radovic 14 Rol 13/6r Correal 6/8r PEA Parks 17 Williams 16/7r Pedrals 12 Stankovic 11
Standings: Landes 5-1, Nymburk 4-2, PEAC-Pecs 2-4, Elfic Fribourg 1-5
Group G:
This group had both of its games on Wednesday. A great game from Natalie Achonwa was not enough for Napoli as they lost 68-64 in Hungary to Miskolc, although both teams are moving on to the next round. Neither team was in contention, but Valosun Brno did end the campaign with a win as Lenita Sanford helped end the Orange Blizzards experiment 81-51.
Aluinvent Miskolc vs. DIKE Napoli 68-64 ALU Horti 16 Brewer 13/9r Czank 13/6a Szecsi 12/9r NAP Achonwa 24 Ivezic 16/6r Quinn 6 Carta 3 Burdick 2
Orange Blizzards vs. Valosun KP Brno 59-81 ORA Broring 16 Butter 13 VAL Sanford 19/12r Sujanova 14 Vlkova 11
Standings: Aluinvent Miskolc 6-0, DIKE Napoli 4-2, Valosun KP Brno 2-4, Orange Blizzards 0-6
Group H:
On Wednesday, the group winner was decided emphatically as the Portuguese visitors went to Belgium and beat Namur 81-62 with Shaqwedia Wallace and Ashley Bruner completing an impressive group stage. On Thursday, Angers advanced with a 69-51 win against Gyor to leave the Hungarian team winless.
Namur vs. Sportiva Azores Airlines 62-81 NAM Traore 19/6r Mayombo 18/6r Sissoko 8/11r Orekhova 6 SAZ Wallace 25 Bruner 23/6s Ivanovic 19/6s Milovac 11
UFAB 49 vs. UNI GYOR 69-51 UFA Prodhomme 16 Aleksandravicius 14/8r Pochet 11/6 Egnell 5 GYO Radocaj 11/7a Goree 6
Standings: Sportiva Azores Airlines 5-1, UFAB 49 4-2, Namur 3-3, Uni Gyor 0-6
After the games were complete, the 16 remaining teams were ranked by performance and the bracket was created for the next two rounds. The lower ranked team will host the first game of each series and the higher ranked team will host the second. If different teams win each game, then the scores of the two games are combined to determine a winner. Either game can end in a tie and overtime is only played in the second game and is used if the aggregate score is tied even if the game score is not tied.
1 Istanbul Universitesi/16 Besiktas vs. 8 Reyer Venezia/9 TTT Riga
2 Aluinvent Miskolc/15 Lulea vs. 7 Orduspor/10 Nymburk
3 Sparta&k M.R. Vidnoje/14 DIKE Napoli vs. 6 Enisey/11 Nantes Reze
4 Sportiva Azores Airlines/13 UFAB vs. 5 Landes/12 Edirnespor