The first series finished up on Thursday in Orenburg. Nadezhda brought home a small margin and Cukurova erased it in the first half, but the hosts rallied after halftime to take it back, hanging on to an outright 76-74 win and the 136-132 aggregate win. Alina Iagupova was at her brilliant best for the visitors, but they now drop down to EuroCup and still have a fairy tale to write. Friday’s first game was the most simple series mathematically as the tie in the first game meant that the teams would play with the winner advancing. Olympiacos started well on the road in Krakow, but Wisla fought back in the second half as the scoring in the first quarter gave way to a grinder of a game, but the visitors did enough to win 47-46 and add some wider representation to the tournament. That theme continued in the next game as TTT expanded their lead early against Reyer winning 73-56 for a final margin of 140-112 as having one Latvian player in Anete Steinberga proved not to be enough for the hosts. The last game was played on Wednesday as Magali Mendy and Villeneuve cut the deficit by halftime and then controlled the second half to beat Frida Eldebrink and Szekszard 77-61 and advance 145-132 on aggregate to complete the group picture.
October 11, 2018
Nadezhda vs. Cukurova 76-74 NAD Ygueravide 18/13a Shilova 17 Jones 11/12r Bulgak 8 CUKU Iagupova 26/8a Ndour 17 Uzun 12 Ervin 10/10r Mestdagh 7
Nadezhda advances 136-132
October 12, 2018
Wisla Krakow vs. Olympiacos 46-47 WISL Rodriguez 17 Canada 14/7r Russell 9 Conde 0 Oroszova 0 OLY Spyridopoulou 12 Thomas 7 Johnson 6/9r Pavlopoulou 6 Mazic 4/7r
Olympiacos advances 110-109
Reyer Venezia vs. TTT Riga 56-73 VENE Steinberga 20/12r Bestagno 10 Goree 10 Anderson 2 Gulich 0 TTTR Peddy 16 Vitola 14/9r Kreslina 11 Basko 10 Slaughter 9 Eglite 0
TTT Riga advances 140-112
October 17, 2018
Villeneuve vs. Szekszard 77-61 ESBV Mendy 21/11r Evans 14 Bar 11 Bjorklund 10 Diallo 10 SZEK Eldebrink 20 Kiss 12 McCall 10/6r Bishop 4/7r
Villeneuve advances 145-132
Groups:
A: Schio, Nadezhda, Ekaterinburg, Polkowice, Bourges, Villeneuve, USK Praha, Castors Braine
B: Avenida, Olympiacos, Dynamo Kursk, Carolo, Sopron, TTT Riga, Fenerbahce, Hatay