The Dream Overseas Report took a week off because a lot of leagues took time off for the Christmas break, and many of players took the opportunity to come back to the USA and celebrate the holidays.  In both Italy and Turkey, there were impromptu reunions of Atlanta Dream players as their teams faced each other in domestic league play.  To find out how those and other matches turned out, read the summaries below:

Matee Ajavon

(Energa Torun, Poland)

On Sunday, December 20, Torun went to Polkowice and posted a disappointing 54-47 setback.  According to Eurobasket.com, Torun never led at any point during the game.   Torun had a three-game winning streak come to an end, whereas Polkowice won its 10^th straight.  It was a horrible game in general, with Polkowice only shooting 31 percent, eclipsed only by Torun’s 28 percent shooting.

Energa Torun’s next game is not until around January 9.  Torun is currently 4-8 in league play, good for 8^th place.

Energa Torun:  Weronica Idczak 11, Ajavon 8 (2-for-9 shooting), Victoria Macaulay 6/10 rebounds, Shae Kelley 6.

Polkowice:  Miljana Bojovic 13/10 assists, Ewelina Gala 12/9 rebounds, Nicole Michael (Syracuse 2010) 11, Nikki Greene 3/9 rebounds.

Box score Energa Torun/Polkowice: 
http://www.basketligakobiet.pl/mecz/35071/mks-polkowice—energa-torun.html

Picture gallery Energa Torun/Polkowice: 
http://basketligakobiet.pl/zdjecia/f/779/mks-polkowice—energa-torun.html

 

Cierra Burdick

(Napoli, Italy)

On Wednesday the 16^th, Napoli went on the road for a Eurocup game against Hungarian team Miskolc.  It was the final game of Group play, and both teams are qualified.   Napoli only had one loss in Group G, which was to Miskolc and hoped to get some revenge, but lost its final group game 68-64 to finish 4-2 in the group compared to 6-0 for Miskolc.

Napoli was down by nine in the fourth quarter and could get no closer than three points.  Of the 12 steals in the game Miskolc had 11 of them and Napoli wasn’t helped by a 3-for-17 shooting performance behind the three-point line.

Both teams advance to the Group of 16.  Teams are ranked in Eurocup by overall wins and point differential.  Napoli is ranked at #14.  It will begin a best-of-two series against Russian team Sparta&K Vidnoje in the second week of January with the first game at Napoli.

Napoli:  Natalie Achonwa 24/6 turnovers, Jelena Ivezic 16/6 rebounds, Gintare Petronyte 9, Noelle Quinn 6, Burdick 2/5 rebounds.

Miskolc: Dora Horti 16, Alyssia Brewer 13/9 rebounds, Timea Czank 13/6 assists, Orsolya Szecsi  12/9 rebounds.

On Saturday, December 19, Napoli went on the road to take on CUS Cagliari and won a close 65-62 game to improve to 5-6 on the season.  LegaBasketFemminile.it criticized the refereeing in this game as very questionable, an interesting position to take as Napoli won on the road.  From the writeup I’m reading, Burdick played a key role under the basket in the final minutes, helping Napoli swing from a 58-54 deficit to their eventual triumph.

Napoli:  Natalie Achonwa 24/11 rebounds, Burdick 15/6 rebounds, Noelle Quinn 10/6 rebounds.

CUS Cagliari:  Samantha Prahalis 24, Cinzia Arioli 14, Nikolina Milic 12/14 rebounds.

On Tuesday the 22^nd, Cierra Burdick and Reshanda Gray finally got the chance to say hello to each other before the Christmas break, as Gray’s Battipaglia team traveled to Napoli.  So who won the battle?

Gray won the battle, but Napoli won the war.  In the case of Gray vs. Burdick, Gray was the clear winner with 19 points and 13 rebounds, leading numbers for her team.  Burdick, on the other hand, went 0-for-7 from the floor.  She had seven rebounds, but scored zero points in 25 minutes of play.

Fortunately for Burdick’s team, Battipaglia had no answer for Natalie Achonwa, who scored 32 points and 15 rebounds.  It was Napoli’s sixth straight victory.  It had to hurt, as Battipaglia was up 53-50 with about half the fourth quarter to go, but Achonwa put Napoli on her back for the win.  After 12 games, Napoli stands at 6-6 in the Italian league regular season.

Box score Napoli/Miskolc:  http://www.fibaeurope.com/eurocupwomen/compID_Rn2Om4j3HOcXtTFwJWFsh3.season_2016.roundID_11803.gameID_11817-G-12-6.html

Highlights Napoli/Miskolc:

Sydney Carter

(TTT Riga, Latvia)

In the other Eurocup game involving Atlanta Dream players, TTT Riga game into their game in Russia against Dynamo Moscow at 4-1 compared to their opponent’s 3-2 record in Group B.  Dynamo Moscow needed to win by a few dozen to have a shot of moving up, but the 61-59 win by the Russians only killed TTT Riga’s chance of placing higher in the Round of 16.

Both teams were within at least three points of each other for the entire fourth quarter.  Ekaterina Fedorenkova hit two free throws to put the home team ahead by two with 12 seconds left.  Kristen Mann attempted a 3-pointer for TTT Riga with three seconds left, but it failed to fall.

TTT Riga finished 9^th among the 16 teams playing in January, and host Italian team Venezia in January in a best-of-two series.

TTT Riga: Carter 14, Baiba Eglite 11, Zenta Melnika 8, Ieva Kulite 7/7 rebounds.

Dynamo Moscow: Ksenia Tikhonenko 23/11 rebounds, Ekaterina Fedorenkova 14/7 assists.

On Saturday the 20^th, TTT Riga resumed play in the Latvian league with a pair of back-to-back games.  The first one was an easy win against RSU-Merks, with TTT Riga finishing 107-50.  Riga shot 53 percent from the field for the entire game and won the second quarter 23-8 and the third quarter 25-9.

TTT Riga:  Ieva Kulite 25/8 rebounds, Carter 14 (24 minutes played), Zenta Melnika 13/6 rebounds, Ieva Krastina 12, Kate Aizsila 11.

RSU-Merks:  Arta Friedenberga 12.

On Sunday, TTT Riga won its game against Latvija U16 without Sydney Carter’s help.  She was already on her way home, tweeting the following on the 21^st.

@Sydney_Rene  See you in 9hrs and 46min America

TTT Riga didn’t feel bad.  They won that game against Latvija U16 123-46.  TTT Riga moves to 10-0 in the Latvian league.  Riga’s next game in the Eastern European women’s basketball league will be on January 9^th.

Box score TTT Riga/Dynamo Moscow:  http://www.fibaeurope.com/eurocupwomen/compID_Rn2Om4j3HOcXtTFwJWFsh3.season_2016.roundID_11803.gameID_11817-B-11-6.html

Box score TTT Riga/RSU-Merks:
http://www.wbbl.eu/en/schedule/top/competition/game/?game_id=3211631&season_id=91995#mbt:63-400$t&0=1

Box score TTT Riga/Latvija U16:
http://www.wbbl.eu/en/schedule/top/competition/game/?game_id=3211637&season_id=91995#mbt:63-400$t&0=1

 

Carla Cortijo

(Gigantes de Carolina, Puerto Rico)

Carla Cortijo finished her basketball camp in Puerto Rico.  According to press, 60 girls participated.

Article: 
http://www.presenciapr.com/una-navidad-con-carla-cortijo-jovenes-desarrollan-destrezas-deportivas

 

Reshanda Gray

(Battipaglia, Italy)

On Saturday, Gray led her Battipaglia team against visiting Umbertide and the home team walked away with a 88-79 OT victory.  Battipaglia was down by two points, 58-56, going into the final quarter.  A key to Battipaglia’s win might have been in moving the ball around – they had more assisted shots and shot 50 percent from two-point range.    The game was tied 73-73 going into the final overtime period.  I can’t find out much about the actual game but Asia Boyd had a good game in her first time playing for Battipaglia.

Battipaglia:  Gray 26/20 rebounds, Marzia Tagliamento 24, Asia Boyd 18, Kourtney Treffers 17/18 rebounds.

Umbertide:  Giovanna Pertile 24/6 rebounds, Meighan Simmons 20, Wumi Agunbiade 12.

On December 22^nd, Battipaglia traveled to Napoli to play.  You can find the results and box score of that game in the Cierra Burdick section.  Play in the Italian league will resume on January 3^rd.  Battipaglia is currently 5-7 in the Italian league after 12 games.

Also:  check out Reshanda Gray’s newest blogpost right here!  http://reshandagray.sportsblog.com/posts/9507891/happy-holidays.html

Box score Battipaglia/Umbertide: 
http://lbf-web.dataproject-stats.com/Tabellino.asp?IdGara=15969

Complete game Battipaglia/Umbertide: 

https://youtu.be/Sval00OZ3VY

Tiffany Hayes

(Yakin Dogu, Turkey)

The Turkish clubs were very busy coming into the Christmas holiday.  On December 20^th, Yakin Dogu took on traditional powerhouse Fenerbahce in Istanbul and lost 78-69.  Fener was up 61-55 going into the fourth quarter and weren’t really challenged despite Hayes’s 27 points.

Yakin Dogu:  Hayes 27/7 rebounds, Alyssa Thomas 12/8 rebounds, Kelsey Bone 11/6 rebounds.

Fenerbahce:  Jantel Lavender 20/6 rebounds, Allie Quigley 17/6 rebounds, Olcay Cahir 13.

Three days later, Edirne came to Yakin Dogu and left a lump of coal in their stocking, beating Yakin Dogu 67-44 in an upset December 23^rd.  Edrine won the battle of the boards 46-33 and scored 18 out of 21 points at the free throw line.  Yakin Dogu was held to just 16 points in the second half.

Yakin Dogu:  Hayes 17/6 rebounds, Kelsey Bone 9/8 rebounds.

Edirne:  Kristina Baltic 15/11 rebounds, Stefanie Dolson 13/11 rebounds, Nevena Jovanovic 13/8 rebounds, Melis Talay 10/5 assists, Yasemin Dalgalar 10/10 rebounds.

On Sunday, December 27^th, Yakin Dogu traveled to Mersin to take on Angel McCoughtry and Aneika Henry, the second mini-reunion of Dream players during the Christmas break.  It was an uncomfortable visit for Hayes and her team as they lost 74-66 on the road.   All of the Dream players put up big numbers in this game.

Angel McCoughtry linked to a video where she comments: 
“Overseas basketball.  Good to see @tiphayes3 even tho she kept reaching lol”

https://www.instagram.com/p/_zhqOoROOT/

Yakin Dogu:  Hayes 29/6 rebounds, Alyssa Thomas 16/16 rebounds, Kelsey Bone 8/12 rebounds.

Mersin:  McCoughtry 22/7 rebounds/6 assists, Henry 18/7 rebounds, Marina Kuzina 17/7 rebounds, Bria Hartley 5.

Box score Yakin Dogu/Fenerbahce: 
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1392&Sezon=156

Box score Yakin Dogu/Edirne: 
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1390&Sezon=156

Box score Yakin Dogu/Mersin:
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1404&Sezon=156

 

Aneika Henry, Angel McCoughtry

(Mersin, Turkey)

On Sunday the 20^th, Mersin hosted Besitkas and won 76-68.  Mersin kept control of the ball with 12 turnovers and 12 steals, compared to 17 turnovers and seven steals from Besitkas.  Finding info on Turkish league games outside from the box score is usually difficult.   Besitkas was down by 18 going into the fourth quarter, so really no contest.

Mersin:  McCoughtry 24/11 rebounds, Henry 19/16 rebounds/5 assists, Bria Hartley 13/6 assists.

Besitkas:  Cappie Pondexter 23, Ayse Cora 11.

On the 23^rd, Mersin traveled to Orduspor and had little problem beating the lower-ranked squad 82-58.  Mersin outrebounded the home team 44-32.  Only six players saw any minutes at all for Orduspor.

Mersin:  Marina Kuzina 26/8 rebounds, Henry 12/6 rebounds, Bria Hartley 10/8 assists, McCoughtry 6

Orduspor:  Tijana Krivacevic 19, Elin Eldebrink 16, Jelena Milovanovic 14, Ozge Kavurmacioglu 3/11 rebounds.

On December 27, Mersin hosted Yakin Dogu, which is Tiffany Hayes’s team.  The writeup of that game can be found in the Tiffany Hayes section above.

Box score Mersin/Besitkas: 
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1390&Sezon=156

Box score Mersin/Orduspor: 
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1401&Sezon=156

Box score Yakin Dogu/Mersin:
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1404&Sezon=156

 

Sancho Lyttle

(UMMC, Ekaterinburg)

In Group B of Euroleague, UMMC hosted French team Bourges, captained by Celine Dumerc who played on the Dream in 2015.  It was Sancho Lyttle’s team that would win this reunion 69-63.  The keys to the game were Diana Taurasi scoring 30 points and UMMC’s domination on the boards.  Bourges closed to within 65-63 but Taurasi and Brittney Griner went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the last 13 seconds.

UMMC:  Diana Taurasi 30/8 rebounds, Sandrine Gruda 10, Brittney Griner 9/14 rebounds, Lyttle 2/6 rebounds (17 minutes played).

Bourges:  Celine Dumerc 14/6 rebounds, Ana Maria Cata-Chitiga 14, Johanna Leedham 11.

On December 20^th, UMMC was off to Nadezhda Orenburg for a matchup of two teams with 10-0 records in the Russian league.  UMMC picked up a 75-64 win by dominating the boards.  Sancho Lyttle did not play in that game.

Box score UMMC/Bourges:  http://www.fibaeurope.com/euroleaguewomen/compID_jr6ZiXqeGhMBtfq1yxqV83.season_2016.roundID_11804.gameID_11814-B-31-8.html

Complete game UMMC/Bourges: 

Box score UMMC/Nadezhda Orenburg: http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Russia/2015/1220_7636_7631.asp?women=1

 

Current cumulative statistics:

Matee Ajavon (Poland):  10 games, 13.3 ppg/3.5 rpg/6.0 apg

Cierra Burdick (Eurocup):  6 games, 10.5 ppg/10.2 rpg/1.3 apg

Cierra Burdick (Italy):  12 games, 9.7 ppg/9.2 rpg/1.4 apg

Sydney Carter (Eurocup):  8 games, 17.0 ppg/3.1 rpg/3.3 apg

Sydney Carter (Latvia):  8 games, 10.3 ppg/2.5 rpg/3.6 apg

Sydney Carter (EEWBL):  5 games, 10.2 ppg/2.2 rpg/3.0 apg

Reshanda Gray (Italy):  12 games, 17.1 ppg/11.3 rpg/0.8 apg

Tiffany Hayes (Turkey):  11 games, 21.8 ppg/4.1 rpg/1.8 apg

Aneika Henry (Turkey): 11 games, 15.8 ppg/11.1 rpg/2.5 apg

Sancho Lyttle (Euroleague):  8 games, 5.4 ppg/6.4 rpg/0.8 apg

Sancho Lyttle (Russia):  7 games, 11.0 ppg/7.4 apg/2.3 apg

Angel McCoughtry (Turkey):  10 games, 24.2 ppg/7.9 rpg/3.4 apg