April 5, 2017

The first game of the final series between the Turkish university-sponsored teams took place on Wednesday.  Yakin Dogu University did not see their momentum slowed early, taking the lead in Kayseri before Abdullah Gul University cut into the deficit before halftime.  The visitors stretched the lead back out in the third quarter before finishing with a 73-69 win as Courtney Vandersloot and Chelsea Gray had a terrific point guard battle.  The teams are scheduled to meet again in domestic league play on Saturday before switching venues for the second half of this series on Wednesday.

Bellona AGU vs. Yakin Dogu Universitesi 69-73 KAYS Gray 21 Mazic 17 Wauters 10 Dubljevic 7 Sanders 2/8r Wright 2 YDUB Vandersloot 25 McBride 19 Robinson 8/9r Hollingsworth 7 Carson 5 Leuchanka 0 Cakir 0

March 24, 2017

Both homes teams brought back 6 point leads for Friday’s games.  Courtney Paris and Hatay flipped that deficit around quickly, but Abdullah Gul University turned it around in the second half to win 64-58 outright and advance 135-123 on aggregate.  It was a different story for Yakin Dogu University, which built on its lead quickly thanks to Kayla McBride, winning 81-68 at pushing the aggregate to 168-149.  Astou Traore provided Moriah Jefferson with some help, but it was not enough for Galatasaray.  The finals are set for April 5th and 12th with the first game set for Kayseri and the second for Istanbul.

Bellona AGU vs. Hatay 64-58 KAYS Wright 19 Dubljevic 16/6r Wauters 11/6r Gray 7 Sanders 6/7r HATA Paris 20/16r Snytsina 17 Turner 9 Stankovic 0

Bellona AGU advances 135-123

Yakin Dogu Universitesi vs. Galatasaray 81-68 YDUB McBride 24/6r Carson 15 Vandersloot 14/12a Hollingsworth 10/7r Caglar 10 Cakir 2 Leuchanka 2 Robinson 0 GALA Traore 21/6r Jefferson 20/6a Vitola 8 Da Silva 3 Paris 0

Yakin Dogu Universitesi advances 168-149

March 21, 2017

Both series started on Tuesday as the all-Turkish affair began.  Abdullah Gul University used a strong final quarter to win 71-65 at Hatay and give themselves and advantage for the home game.  Moriah Jefferson and Kayla McBride may soon be playing on the same team, but they were on opposite sides of a terrific battle with Quanitra Hollingsworth also helping push Yakin Dogu University to the 87-81 win despite Jefferson’s latest heroics for Galatasaray.  That leaves both university-sponsored teams with narrow leads, but both will host the next game on Friday.

Hatay vs. Bellona AGU 65-71 HATA Paris 18/11r Snytsina 13/7r Hurst 13 Stankovic 8 Turner 5 Tanacan 0 KAYS Dubljevic 13/6r/6a Wauters 12/7r Gray 12 Gunay 11 Sanders 9 Wright 8 Mazic 0

Galatasaray vs. Yakin Dogu Universitesi 81-87 GAL Jefferson 31/9a Papova 15 Vitola 13/6r Da Silva 5 Paris 0 YDU Hollingsworth 26 McBride 26 Vandersloot 11/15r Carson 6 Robinson 4 Cakir 2 Leuchanka 2

March 10, 2017

All four series finished on Friday in Turkey.  Galatasaray was the least likely host team to advance after results on Tuesday, but quickly got to work on the deficit.  Moriah Jefferson and Astou Traore helped them get the 82-66 win, which was enough to beat Good Angels Kosice 144-139 overall.  Wisla looked to spoil Hatay’s day by taking an early lead, but the hosts took care of business in the second half behind Barbara Turner to win 77-76, advancing by a 146-133 margin.  Abdullah Gul University had the biggest lead after the first game and they built on that at home before coasting to a 73-68 win with Saziye Ivegin leading the way for a comfortable 158-133 margin against Lattes Montpellier.  Courtney Vandersloot helped Yakin Dogu University widen the margin after a close first game, beating Villeneuve 73-61 to stretch the final tally to 141-128.

Galatasaray vs. Good Angels Kosice 82-66 GALA Jefferson 25 Traore 21 Papova 12 Vitola 9/7r Paris 5 Da Silva 2 KOSC Jurcenkova 15 Baugh 12/7r Zirkova 12 Oblak 10 Allen 8

Galatasaray advances 144-139

Hatay vs. Wisla Can-Pack 77-76 HATA Turner 20/6a Paris 17/11r Hurst 17/7r/7a Snytsina 15 Stankovic 0 Tanacan 0 WIS Morrison 18 Ygueravide 17/7a Ben Abdelkader 16/7a Gidden 11/6r Kobryn 11

Hatay advances 146-133

Bellona AGU vs. BLMA 73-68 KAYS Ivegin 20 Mazic 12/9r Gray 8 Dubljevic 6 Wright 4 Wauters 2 Sanders 2 BLMA Mann 15 Michel 14 Robert 14 Halman 11

Bellona AGU advances 158-133

Yakin Dogu Universitesi vs. ESBVA-LM 73-61 YDUB Vandersloot 21/12a McBride 14 Hollingsworth 13/8r Robinson 10/8r Carson 1 Leuchanka 0 Cakir 0 ESBV Iagupova 18 Sy 15/6r Amant 10 Ayayi 5/6r

Yakin Dogu Universitesi advances 141-128

The semifinals will be played on March 21st and 24th with the team listed first hosting the first game:
Hatay vs. Bellona AGU
Galatasaray vs. Yakin Dogu Universitesi

The Round of 8 series concluded this week.  On Wednesday, Abdullah Gul University quickly worked on overturning the deficit built up in Spain as Chelsea Gray helped them get the 85-54 win in Turkey to progress 148-125 overall.  On Thursday, Yakin Dogu quickly reversed the deficit from the game in Italy to win 66-45 in Turkey, advancing past Venezia 122-110 behind Kayla McBride and Courtney Vandersloot.  Galatasaray only needed to defend their lead in Turkey after a solid win in Italy and they did so with Moriah Jefferson leading the way in 68-66 win outright, pushing the margin to 145-133.  In Hungary, Cegled made progress early on cutting into the deficit built up in Slovakia, but Teja Oblak and the visitors got the 77-70 win, advancing past Nora Nagy-Bujdoso and the hosts 156-134.

February 15, 2017

Bellona AGU vs. Spar Citylift Girona 85-54 KAYS Gray 23/7a Wauters 15/11r Gunay 12 Sanders 10/6r Dubljevic 9 Wright 6/9a Mazic 5 GIRO Alminaite 12/8r Ibekwe 9/7r Spanou 8/6r Rodriguez 8 Peters 3

Bellona AGU advances 148-125

February 16, 2017

Yakin Dogu Universitesi vs. Reyer Venezia 66-45 YDUB McBride 21/6r Vandersloot 21/6a Hollingsworth 9/9r Carson 5 Robinson 0 Cakir 0 REYE Ruzickova 12/7r Walker 12/6r Fontenette 2

Yakin Dogu Universitesi advances 122-110

Galatasaray vs. Virtus Eirene Ragusa 68-66 GALA Jefferson 24/6a Alben 14/6a Traore 12/6r Vitola 5/10r Da Silva 2 Paris 0 VIRT Larkins 19/18r Ndour 17 Nicholls 14

Galatasaray advances 145-133

VBW CEKK Cegled vs. Good Angels Kosice 70-77 CEGL Nagy-Bujdoso 25/7r Skoric 18 Serban 10 KOSC Oblak 22/6a Jurcenkova 14/6r Kupcikova 11/8r Allen 11 Baugh 11 Zirkova 0

Good Angels Kosice advances 156-134

After a week off, play resumed with the first game of each Round for all 8 series.  On Wednesday, Ify Ibekwe and Girona beat Ann Wauters and Abdullah Gul University 71-63 at home to take an advantage with them when the series moves to Turkey next week.  The home team also took the early advantage in Italy as Ashley Walker and Venezia beat Yakin Dogu University 65-56.  The other two series started on Thursday.  Good Angels Kosice dominated the second half in Slovakia, building a solid 79-64 lead for when they visit Cegled in Hungary next week.  Galatasaray will have the edge when they return to Turkey after going to Italy and beating Ragusa 77-67 with several additions to their roster.

February 8, 2017

Spar Citylift Girona vs. Bellona AGU 71-63 GIRO Ibekwe 21/9r Alminaite 15/11r Peters 13 Rodriguez 12 Spanou 7 KAYS Wauters 20/13r Wright 14 Dubljevic 12/6r Gray 6 Mazic 6 Sanders 2

Reyer Venezia vs. Yakin Dogu Universitesi 65-56 REYE Walker 21/12r Fontenette 16/6r Ruzickova 15/9r YDUB McBride 17 Hollingsworth 12/18r Carson 11/9r Vandersloot 11/8r/7a Robinson 4/11r Cakir 0

February 9, 2017

Good Angels Kosice vs. VBW CEKK Cegled 79-64 KOSC Oblak 17 Stehlikova 13 Baugh 12/14r Zirkova 11 Allen 9 CEGL Skoric 17/7r Nagy-Bujdoso 12/6r

Virtus Eirene Ragusa vs. Galatasaray 67-77 VIRT Vanloo 16 Ndour 15/10r Gorini 15 Consolini 11 Larkins 2/9r/6a GALA Jefferson 16/6a Vitola 14/7r Traore 14 Da Silva 8/7r Paris 0

The second game of each series was played this week, starting with five games on Wednesday.  Galatasaray had won narrowly in Hungary last week, but quickly expanded it in Turkey, beating Pecs 81-49 behind Moriah Jefferson and 152-116 overall win.

Abdullah Gul University brought back a big lead from the first game in France and coasted in Turkey with a 66-56 win over Nice to advance 144-106 overall.

The game in Spain ended up looking closer than it was as Ify Ibekwe and Girona built a huge lead early after a narrow win in Germany and then Wasserburg trimmed it to 79-71 in the game, still losing 145-133 overall.

Charleville had a big deficit to make up in France after a loss in Slovakia, and Kim Mestdagh and company appeared to be on track early before only managing the 72-58 win, losing 141-136 on aggregate to extend the difficulties for the teams that finished as top seeds after the group stage.

The day ended with Ragusa expanding their margin from the Czech Republic with a 71-57 win over Nymburk in Italy, pushing the total to 128-110.  Games continued on Thursday as Yakin Dogu University kept on building on the lead established in Germany by beating Keltern 85-58 in Turkey and getting an overall margin of 161-120.  Maccabi Ashdod was expected to be competitive in Israel after a narrow defeat in Italy, but a good game from Shay Doron was not enough against Reyer Venezia, losing outright 72-51 and 130-103 overall.

A back and forth game in Latvia ended with a 61-57 win for TTT Riga, but Cegled’s win in Hungary held as they advanced by a 130-127 margin.  After a week’s break, the remaining teams will face off in the same format. [Read more…]

This week marked the start of the knockout phase of the competition as the remaining teams were ranked by performance in the group phase and then seeded for the bracket with the lower ranked teams hosting this first game.  Galatasaray left Pecs with a 71-67 win.  Ify Ibekwe and Girona also escaped with a narrow win after beating Wasserburg 66-62.  The trend continued for away teams as Ragusa left the Czech Republic with a 57-53 win over Nymburk.  One home team did win as Venezia beat Maccabi Ashdod 58-52.  On Thursday, Good Angels Kosice had a nice start, but nearly gave it away before recovering for a 83-64 win behind Rebecca Allen as they will head to Charleville with some confidence next week.  A back and forth game in Cegled went to the hosts 73-66 as TTT Riga will have a deficit to overturn when they went home.  Abdullah Gul University wasted no time in France and beat up on Nice 78-50.  Yakin Dogu University also had a wire to wire win on the road, beating Keltern 76-62 in Germany.

January 18, 2017

PEAC Pecs vs. Galatasaray 67-71 PEAC Kuster 17 Juhasz 13/8r Mandic 13 Siksniute 10/11r GALA Traore 18 Jefferson 16 Vitola 12 Demirok 11/6r

TSV 1880 vs. Spar Citylift Girona 62-66 WASS Tobin 14/9r Lucet 13 Fontaine 10/7r Peddy 5/8r GIRO Ibekwe 20/11r Peters 15/6r Rodriguez 15 Spanou 9/7r Da Silva 7

Nymburk vs. Virtus Eirene Ragusa 53-57 NYMB Khomenchuk 11/12r Pavel 10 VIRT Larkins 15 Spreafico 14 Gorini 11/7r Nicholls 11/7r Ndour 2

Reyer Venezia vs. Maccabi Bnot 58-52 REYE Carangelo 14/8r Ruzickova 12/14r Fontenette 10 ASHD Levitsky 12/9r Graves 11/11r Wheeler 9 Abdi 8/8r Doron 5/6r Shafir 0 Presley 0

January 19, 2017

Good Angels Kosice vs. Carolo 83-64 KOSC Allen 27/7r Zirkova 14 Oblak 13/6a Baugh 8/10r CARO Bouderra 16 Mestdagh 12 Mosqueda-Lewis 12 Berezhnyska 11 DeVaughn 4 Djaldi-Tabdi 4

VBW CEKK Cegled vs. TTT Riga 73-66 CEGL Nagy-Bujdoso 18 Katona 18 Maksimovic 16/13r Skoric 13/9r RIGA Carter 18 Eibele 12 Sutherland 7/9r Strautmane 5 Basko-Melnbarde 4/6r Eglite 2 Priede 0

Cavignal Nice vs. Bellona AGU 50-78 NICE Anderson 11 Cornelie-Sigmundova 10 Macaulay 10 BELL Gray 19/7r/6a Mazic 13 Ivegin 11 Wright 10/8a Dubljevic 10 Wauters 7/9r

Rutronik Stars Keltern vs. Yakin Dogu Universitesi 62-76 KELT Thomas 16 Pokk 16 Vucurovic 10 Davis 7/6r YDUB Vandersloot 18/8a Hollingsworth 17/9r Carson 17 McBride 10 Robinson 9/7r Cakir 0