Australia WNBL Rounds 5 and 6
Three games were played in Round 5, with one being postponed, while so far five of the seven games in Round 6 have been postponed due to COVID health and safety protocols. The three games played from Dec. 30-Jan. 2 featured a Melbourne Boomers 65-53 loss to the Adelaide Lightning on Dec. 30, despite 14 points from Lindsay Allen and 12 points and six boards from Tiffany Mitchell. The Lightning were paced by 21 points and 11 rebounds from Australia’s Alanna Smith. On New Year’s Eve the UC Capitals sent 2021 out with a 76-52 win over the Townsville Fire behind 20 points, nine boards and five assists from Kelsey Griffin and 12 points, seven caroms and five assists from Brittney Sykes. On Jan. 2, Smith broke a tie by swishing in two free throws with 4.4 seconds on the clock to push the Lighting to an 88-86 win over the Perth Lynx. Smith was the Lightning’s leading scorer with 25 points, while Kylee Shook scored 12 points and Kiana Williams added 11 points.

Sixteen Teams Advance in EuroCup Playoffs
The first round of the EuroCup playoffs concluded this week, and 16 teams advanced to the EuroCup round of 16, which will be played Jan. 11-13 and Jan. 19-20.

Olympiacos 84, WBC Enisey 69
After winning the first game 85-70, Olympiacos, which does not list an American on its roster, knocked WBC Enisey out of the playoffs with an 84-69 victory, despite Enisey receiving 23 points and 20 boards from N’Dea Jones.

LDLC Asvel Feminin 99, Hatayspor 46
After a 47-point victory in Game 1, LDLC Asvel Feminin was virtually assured of advancing and did so with a 99-46 thumping of Hatayspor in Game 2 with a 100-point margin over Hatayspor. Aiding the French squad in the win was Cierra Burdick, who finished with six points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Aaryn Ellenberg-Wiley scored 16 points in her final EuroCup game of the season.

BC Nadezhda 80, MBK Ruzomberok 51
After finishing tied 86-all in the first game, BC Nadezhda overwhelmed MBK Ruzomberok 80-51 to advance. Neither team listed Americans in the game. Adrienne Motley capped her EuroCup campaign with 11 points in the loss.  

Castors Braine 86, Neve David Ramla 79
Castors Braine earned victories in both games and was led in its second win, an 86-79 defeat of Neve David Ramla, by 20 points from Belgium’s Maxuella Mbaka. Courtney Williams shot 2-of-10 and closed her EuroCup season with five points and seven caroms.

Nika Syktyvkar 108, Roche Vendee 98
Azura Stevens poured in 21 points and hauled in 11 rebounds, while Tyasha Harris added 14 points to lead Syktyvkar the round of 16 with a 108-98 win over Roche Vendee, despite Roche Vendee getting 18 points from Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.

Orman Genclik 72, ACS Sepsi-SIC 69
Orman Genclik edged ACS Sepsi-SIC 72-69 to sweep the series and advance to the next round with a 31-point margin of victory. Teaira McCowan’s 16-point, 10-rebound double-double and Danielle Robinson’s 16 points helped power Orman Genclik.

Zabiny Brno 76, DVTK 69
Brno takes the series with a 76-69 win over DVTK , aided by 15 points and nine boards from Bria Holmes, while Keyona Hayes had 23 points and 15 rebounds in the loss. 

Nesibe Aydin 74, NKA Universitas PEAC 71
A pair of three-point victories advanced Nesibe Aydin past NKA Universitas PEAC and into the next round. Alaina Coates posted 21 points and 23 boards, while Jessica Thomas added 17 points in the win. Ty Marshall chipped in 11 points in her team’s loss.

AZS UMCS Lublin 63, Tarbes GB 55
Lublin advances with a pair of victories, the second of which featured a 25-point performance for Lublin by Kamiah Smalls.

Tango Bourges 96, London Lions 65
After dropping the first game by a point, Tango Bourges roared back in Game 2 for a 96-65 victory to advance to the next round with the help of a game-high 22 points from Keisha Hampton.

CBK Mersin 69, Lointek Gernika 40
After dropping its first game by 24 points, CBK Mersin earned a 29-point win, 69-40, over Lointek Gernika to take the series by a five-point margin. Mersin was paced to the win by 14 points and 12 rebounds from Kristine Anigwe and 15 points from Jasmine Thomas.

Flammes 60, Movistar Estudiantes 54
Flammes and Movistar Estudiantes split their two games, and Flammes advanced by a three-point margin. Nia Coffey’s 10 points aided Flammes in the win.

Villeneuve d’Ascq LM 75, Tenerife 49
Villeneuve overpowered Tenerife by a combined 63 points in the two-game series, which saw Jolene Anderson post 15 points, nine caroms and four assists for the French club in its 75-49 win over Tenerife, which saw just seven athletes play in this week’s game.

BC Polkowice 73, Kangoeroes Basket 53
The 20-point, 73-53 Polkowice win over Kangoeroes Basket put the Polish side up by seven points overall to take the series. Stephanie Mavunga had nine points and 14 rebounds in the win.

Valencia BC 96, KKZ Crvena Zvezda 51
Valencia, winners of this year’s SuperCup, won both games with an overall 62-point margin, and was led in Game 2 by Spain’s Angela Salvadores.  

BC Prometey 85, BCF Elfic Fribourg 54
Joyner Holmes scored 17 points and Ariel Atkins added 12 points and eight rebounds to lead their team to the round of 16.

2021-22 EuroLeague Regular Season Standings & Week 10 Games

Ahead of the holiday break, Group A teams continued to separate themselves for playoff berths, while Group B standings continued to be muddled with Fenerbahce atop with a 7-3 slate and four teams owning identical 6-4 records. EuroLeague contests start back up next week, which also will see a make-up game between Group A’s Perfumerias Avenida (7-2) and Umana Reyer (3-6) on Jan. 15.

UMMC Ekaterinburg 108, BLMA 53
Moving to a perfect 10 wins on the season, UMMC Ekaterinburg had no trouble dispatching BLMA (5-5) 108-53 behind eight different players who scored in double figures. Belarussian Maryia Paopva led the way with 15 points. Familiar names to USA Basketball and WNBA fans who also posted double-digit efforts included the Chicago Sky’s Allie Quigley, Spain’s Alba Torrens and Russia’s Maria Vadeeva, who had 14 points apiece; Alex Bentley added 12 points; and Jonquel Jones topped out with 10 points and seven boards. Haley Peters scored a game-high 19 points for BLMA.

Dynamo Kursk 75, Basket Landes 57
Playing on its home court and thanks in no small part to 24 points and nine rebounds from Natasha Howard, Dynamo Kursk (6-4) remained firmly in the playoff hunt with a 75-57 win over Basket Landes (3-7). Also contributing heavily in the victory was Arike Ogunbowale, who chipped in 3 points, five boards, four assists and a pair of steals.

TTT Riga 68, MBA Moscow 61
TTT Riga (4-6) held a 35-26 halftime lead and held back MBA Moscow (2-8) in the second half for a 68-61 win in Moscow. Latvian guard Ieva Pulvere led Riga with 20 points and Jasmine Thomas added 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Fenerbahce 78, Spar Girona 57
After an even first quarter, Fenerbahce (7-3) pulled away with a 23-11 second quarter burst for a 42-30 halftime lead and continued to pull away for a 78-57 win over Spar Girona (6-4) at home in Istanbul. Elizabeth Williams topped the game’s scoring with 19 points to go with nine rebounds and six assists; Kayla McBride, who is averaging a EuroLeague-best 20.0 ppg., added 16 points, eight boards and five dimes; and Germany’s Satou Sabally contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kennedy Burke and Rebekah Gardner scored 15 apiece for Girona.

ZVVZ USK Prague 89, KSC Szekszard 51
Against still winless and EuroLeague newcomer KSC Szekszard (0-10), ZVVZ USK Prague (8-2) remained in the second spot in the Group A standings with an 89-51 victory in Hungary. After a 26-7 first quarter, Prague won the second and third quarters by a combined 44-36 before a 19-8 fourth quarter put the game well in hand. Led by 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field by Brionna Jones, Prague shot 58.3% from the floor and held the Hungarian side to 31.8% field goal shooting. Alyssa Thomas added nine points, six rebounds and four assists in the win.

VBW Arka Gdynia 76, Galatasaray 75
VBW Arka Gdynia (2-8), playing on its home court in Poland, held off a 20-13 fourth-quarter surge to edge Galatasaray (4-6) 76-75 for its second win of the season behind a 19-point, 9-rebound effort from Megan Gustafson. Kaela Davis chipped in nine points, five boards and three assists for the visiting Turkish club.

Beretta Famila Schio 71, Sopron Basket 70
Beretta Famila Schio (6-4) remained entrenched in the playoff hunt and pulled even with Sopron Basket (6-4) in the Group B standings after outscoring the visiting club 15-8 in the fourth quarter to force overtime and closed the game with a 71-70 victory. Diamond DeShields, who hit 6-of-9 from the charity stripe, finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds to help key Schio’s win, while Briann January had 18 points and Shey Peddy scored 14 in Sopron’s loss.