A lot of teams overseas have a one week break in league play that coincides with the Thanksgiving holiday.  Some players, like Cierra Burdick, took advantage of that break and returned to the United States to spend time with family.  Others stayed overseas and found their own ways to celebrate.  The league in Brazil started regular season play…and the league in Puerto Rico played the final games of its championship series.  Catch up with everything in this installment of the Dream Overseas report!

Matee Ajavon

(Energa Torun, Poland)

After some setbacks for Energa Torun, Ajavon’s team finally got a break as they traveled to the basement-dwelling MUKS Poznan team and won in an 84-38 rout.  Torun was up 50-21 at halftime.  MUKS Poznan has no American players on the squad, and Torun shot 62.7 percent from the field.

Energa Torun:  Ajavon 12/6 rebounds, Swiatłana Kudraszowa 12/4 assists, Weronika Idczak 10, Shae Kelley 8, Charity Szczechowiak 7/10 rebounds.

MUKS Poznan:  Agnieszka Kaczmarczyk 11.

Box score Energa Torun/MUKS Poznan: 

http://www.basketligakobiet.pl/mecz/35053/jtc-muks-poznan—energa-torun.html

 

Cierra Burdick

(Napoli, Italy)

Burdick’s Napoli team visited Umbertide and lost 73-67.  However, Burdick did not play in that game due to rules regarding the use of foreign players.  On Twitter, she assured me that everything was fine.

 

Sydney Carter

(TTT Riga, Latvia)

While other players were thinking about Thanksgiving, Carter might have had the busiest schedule of any Atlanta Dream player.  On Wednesday the 25^th Carter and TTT Riga played TTT Juniores in a Latvian league game with a lopsided 143-41 final score that suggests a glorified practice.  Oddly enough, TTT Riga used both Carter and Kristen Mann in this game, despite the fact that no player on the TTT Riga roster played more than 20 minutes.

TTT Riga:  Ieva Kulite 30, Ieva Krastina 19, Carter 14, Kate Aizsila 13, Zenta Melnika 12/13 rebounds, Kristen Mann 11.

TTT Juniores:  Johanna Eliise Tader 13, Kadri Uega 10.

Saturday saw TTT Riga shift focus.  It turns out that TTT Riga plays in the Eastern European Women’s Basketball League (in addition to the Latvian league and Eurocup) and had back to back games scheduled on the weekend in Lithuania.  On Saturday TTT Riga faced Belarussian Team Olimpia and beat them  94-76.  TTT Riga picked up a lot of points off the bench and won this one in the paint, scoring 48 points there to just 26 from Olympia.

TTT Riga:  Ieva Krastina 17, Anda Eibele 16/7 assists, Carter 13, Ieva Kulite 10/6 rebounds, Kristen Mann 10/6 rebounds.

Olimpia: Volha Kapylova 19/9 rebounds, Alena Holubeva 17, Natallia Dashkevich 13.

The very next day TTT Riga took on another Belarussian team, Tsmoki-Minsk.  They won that game as well 76-67.  TTT Riga led that game by 19 at the end of the third quarter and had a lead of 21 at one point, enough of a cushion to take the win.

TTT Riga is undefeated in the EEWBL with a 5-0 record.

TTT Riga:  Ieva Krastina 16, Carter 14, Ieva Kulite 11, Kate Aizsila 10, Kristen Mann 10.

Tsmoki-Minsk:  Viktoriya Hasper 18/9 rebounds, Viktoriya Pankova 17, Ala Murauskaya 15/7 rebounds.

Box score TTT Riga/TTT Juniores:

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Latvia/2015/1125_13204_7819.asp?women=1

Box score TTT Riga/Olimpia:

http://eewbl.eu/game/3102253/#mbt:103-400$t&0=1

Box score TTT Riga/Tsmoki-Minsk:

http://eewbl.eu/game/3102257/#mbt:103-400$t&0=1

Complete game TTT Riga/Olimpia:

 

Complete game TTT Riga/Tsmoki-Minsk:

 

 

Carla Cortijo

(Gigantes de Carolina, Puerto Rico)

It looks like the BSNF Championship series was not a best of five, but a best of seven.  With a 2-0 lead for Carolina, Game Three took place on Thursday, November 19^th.  Carolina won their third game in three attempts with a 68-59 win.   Carolina only led by nine at halftime (and both teams were even in the back half) but the game belonged to Cortijo, who scored an amazing 36 points.

Carolina:  Cortijo 36, Yolanda Jones 9, Marissa Kastanek 9, Rebecca Bruszewski 9/9 rebounds.

Mayaguez:  Monique Oliver 22/7 rebounds, Amanda Thompson 21/20 rebounds, Ashley Prim 10.

All that Carolina needed was one more win.  They got it, and Carolina won the BSNF Championship on Friday, November 20^th with an 88-79 win to sweep the Finals 4-0.  Carolina was only up by two points at halftime, but it was another amazing game by Cortijo with 37 points that made the difference.    With 3:24 left Mayaguez got to within two, 80-78, but Carolina closed it out.

Cortijo was named the Finals MVP.

Carolina:  Cortijo 37, Marissa Kastanek 14, Jasmine Sepulveda 11, Rebecca Bruszewski 10.

Mayaguez:  Monique Oliver 22/6 assists, Ana Barrientos 22, Amanda Thompson 16.

Box score Carolina/Mayaguez (Game Three): 

http://www.bsnfpr.com/event/gigantes-de-carolina-vs-indias-de-mayaguez-3/  

Box score Carolina/Mayaguez (Game Four): 

http://www.bsnfpr.com/event/indias-de-mayaguez-vs-gigantes-de-carolina-4/

Championship celebration video: 

 

 

Damiris Dantas

(Corinthians/Americana, Brazil)

The Brazilian League started its regular season on November 20^th with six teams participating.  Corinthians hosted back-to-back games against Santo Andre to start the season.

However, Dantas did not play in either of those games.  The box scores I have found list her as a DNP-Coach Decision for the first game and don’t list her in the second box score.  If I find more, I’ll let you know.

 

Reshanda Gray

(Battipaglia, Italy)

Battipaglia took on visiting CUS Cagliari and won 82-69.  Even though Gray and Battipaglia are a young team, they aren’t cellar dwellers and are staying clear of the relegation zone.  Battipaglia came out strong after the halftime break, holdingComplete game Battipaglia/CUS Cagliari (no audio):  the visitors to just 13 third-quarter points.

Battipaglia:  Gray 24/12 rebounds, Immaculata Zanoguera 19, Kourtney Treffers 14/11 rebounds.

CUS Cagliari:  Samantha Prahalis 23, Nikolina Milic 21/12 rebounds, Cinzia Arioli 13.

Box score Battipaglia/CUS Cagliari: 

http://lbf-web.dataproject-stats.com/Tabellino.asp?IdGara=15944

Complete game Battipaglia/CUS Cagliari (no audio):

 

 

Tiffany Hayes

(Yakin Dogu, Turkey)

Hayes’s team got an early start on Turkish league play on Saturday, hosting visiting Adana ASKI.  They lost that game 95-85 despite the best efforts of Hayes, who scored 35 points.  The home squad was down 58-40 at halftime.  Yakin Dogu was outrebounded 37-22 and Adana ASKI had 26 assisted shots compared to just eight from Yakin Dogu.

Yakin Dogu:  Hayes 35, Ana Dabovic 15, Kelsey Bone 10.

Adana ASKI:  Amanda Zahui B. 29/9 rebounds, Riquna Williams 21/10 rebounds/7 assists, Melisa Can 14/6 rebounds, Ceyda Sinan 13/5 assists.

Box score Yakin Dogu/Adana ASKI: 

http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1370&Sezon=156

 

Aneika Henry, Angel McCoughtry

(Mersin, Turkey)

Mersin was off to visit Samsun and won 77-72, with critical performances from both Henry and McCoughtry.   With the game tied at 72-72, McCoughtry hit a 3-point shot to put Mersin in the lead, and when Samsun sent Henry to the line, she hit both free throws to make the final five point difference.

Mersin:  McCoughtry 29/6 rebounds, Bria Hartley 15/5 assists, Henry 12/12 rebounds.

Samsun:  Ilsu Daricioglu 16, Cigil Burku 15, Iva Perovanovic 15/12 rebounds, Zane Teilane 13/10 rebounds.

Box score Mersin/Samsun:

http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1372&Sezon=156

 

Sancho Lyttle

(UMMC, Ekaterinburg)

Lyttle is a player with many duties.  I’ve written about her play in the off-season with UMMC, but Lyttle is also on the Spanish National Team.

From November 21-23, there were 33 European teams trying to qualify for the Eurobasket 2017 tournament which would determine FIBA’s European championship. Spain was slotted into Group I with Sweden and Finland.  Winning the group would guarantee that Spain moved on to the main tournament in June 2017.  Spain would play the first two games in November, and then two more games against their fellow Group I teams in 2016.

Spain started play on November 21^st  on the road against Sweden.  The Swedes had a sell-out crowd but it didn’t help as Spain won 75-52.  Spain outscored Sweden 36-18 in the pain with Lyttle’s help.  Sweden was never really in this game as Spain dominated from the tipoff.

Spain:  Lyttle 24/12 rebounds, Anna Cruz 19/7 rebounds, Laia Palau 10/8 assists.

Sweden:  Amanda Zahui B. 18/7 rebounds, Frida Eldebrink 12.

On the 25^th, Spain hosted Finland, winning in an 86-45 blowout.  Finland was down 49-15 at halftime in a laugher and committed 25 turnovers.

Spain:  Lyttle 18/7 rebounds, Silvia Dominguez 13, Marta Xargay 11/8 rebounds, Anna Cruz 11/10 rebounds.

Finland:  Sara Rokkanen 13, Vilma Kesanen 0 points (0-for-9 shooting)/5 assists/11 turnovers.

On Sunday the 30^th, UMMC went back home and hosted Chevakata, winning in a 94-50 laugher.  Both UMMC and Nadezhda Orenburg have 8-0 records.  UMMC won every quarter of the match, and Chevakata head coach Dmitry Donskov compared the game to “getting caught under a tank roller”.  The most notable part of the game was that Brittney Griner dunked not once, but twice.

UMMC:  Kristi Toliver 17/6 assists, Brittney Griner 15/11 rebounds, Eugeniya Belyakova 13, Lyttle 12, Natalia Vieru 10.

Chevakata:  Britney Jones 10, Elena Volkova 10.

Box score Spain-Sweden: 

http://www.fibaeurope.com/compID_pnlxO1HYJhUh,MTfrmUO03.season_2017.roundID_11853.gameID_11853-I-1-1.html

Box score Spain-Finland: 

http://www.fibaeurope.com/compID_pnlxO1HYJhUh,MTfrmUO03.season_2017.roundID_11853.gameID_11853-I-2-2.html

Box score UMMC/Chevakata:

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Russia/2015/1130_7631_7638.asp?women=1

Two slam dunks from Brittney Griner: