This season, European leagues will be taking part of the year off for participation in Eurobasket 2017. Eurobasket is a competition of the various national teams from Europe to qualify for both the FIBA Women’s World Cup and the Olympic Games.  The first games took place in November of last year and now the Eurobasket tournament picks up again in February.  The domestic leagues are shutting down so that the best players in each country can help their national teams qualify.  All of the leagues should be ready to play again on the final weekend of February.

Tiffany Hayes and Elizabeth Williams have already tweeted that they plan to fly home (and if not home, somewhere else) during their time off.  Some leagues have already hung out their GONE FISHIN’ sign, but a few were finishing up games this weekend.  An Atlanta Dream player even got a job in Hungary as a replacement player!  To find out all of the details, here is this week’s Dream Overseas Report.

Matee Ajavon

(Energa Torun, Poland)

Before the Eurobasket rush in Poland, there was one game that still needed to be played for Energa Torun on Wednesday, February 10.  It was a heartbreaking loss to Lublin by a 75-74 score on a last second shot that dropped Energa Torun to 7-11 overall and seventh place in the Polish league.

This was a very tight game decided in the final two minutes of play.  With the score knotted at 72-72 with 51 seconds left on the clock, Renee Taylor hit a pair of free throws for Torun to put them up 74-72.  Lublin was fouled on the next possession and only hit one of two free throws to close within a single point. When Taylor lost the ball with six seconds left, Jhasmin Player of Lublin went on the fast break and made the layup to give Lublin the lead.  Weronica Idczak missed a 3-point attempt with one second left on the game clock, going 0-for-3 for the game and missing both of her attempts at a triple.

Energa Torun:  Renee Taylor 23, Ajavon 16/7 reb, Emilia Tłumak 15, Joanna Walich 13/6 reb.

Lublin:  Drey Mingo 16, Olivia Szumełda-Krzycka 14, Agnieszka Makowska 14/8 reb, Kateryna Dorogobuzowa 13.

Box score Energa Torun/Lublin:
http://www.basketligakobiet.pl/mecz/35104/pszczolka-azs-umcs-lublin—energa-torun.html

 

Cierra Burdick

(Napoli, Italy)

The Italian league is in recess due to Eurobasket.  Play will resume February 28.

 

Sydney Carter

(TTT Riga, Latvia)

I do know that TTT Riga beat Vega 1/Liepaja 87-67 on Saturday, February 13 but Sydney Carter is not listed in the box score.  I have no information about Carter leaving TTT Riga.  She was at a Texas A&M game on January 31.

 

Damiris Dantas

(Corinthians, Brazil)

On Monday, February 15, Corinthians beat Santo André in the first of a pair of back-to-back games by a 68-52 score.  Santo André only shot 30 percent in the loss and the 39 percent shooting from Corinthians wasn’t much better.

Corinthians:  Dantas 24/12 reb, Karla Martins 11/14 reb.

Santo André:  Tassia Carcavalli 14/5 reb/6 ast, Jaqueline Silvestre 12.

On Tuesday, February 16 the second game was played which resulted in an even larger 73-49 victory.  Ahead 50-40 going into the final quarter, Corinthians really turned it on.  The win put Corinthians at 10-2 in the regular season and in first place in the six-team Brazilian league.  It was Santo André’s eighth straight loss.  Corinthinas had 16 assists in the game with Dantas playing only 27 minutes.

Corinthians:  Karla Martins 19, Gilmara Justino 18/10 reb, Yayma Boulet 13, Joice Rodrigues 11/6 reb, Dantas 6/6 reb.

Santo André:  Jacqueline Silvestre 19, Silvia Valente 10.

Box score Corinthians/ Santo André  (first game):
http://ligadebasquetefeminino.com.br/relatorio/?id=522

Box score Corinthians/ Santo André  (second game):
http://ligadebasquetefeminino.com.br/relatorio/?id=529

 

Reshanda Gray

(Battipaglia, Italy)

The Italian league is in recess due to Eurobasket.  Play will resume February 28.

 

Tiffany Hayes

(Yakin Dogu, Turkey)

The Turkish league played one more weekend of games on February 13/14 before taking its Eurobasket break.  On Saturday, February 13 Yakin Dogu went on the road and squeezed by Adana ASKI 62-61.  Yakin Dogu advances to 7-12 overall and are in 11^th place.

Having Yelena Leuchanka on the Yakin Dogu squad allowed them to win the battle of rebounding, 39-25.  The only thing that kept Adana ASKI in this game was the 24 turnovers from Yakin Dogu, including seven from Alyssa Thomas.  I could find out nothing about the play-by-play particulars but the quarter-by-quarter score looks like this was a tight game.

Yakin Dogu:  Kelsey Bone 23/7 reb, Yelena Leuchanka 17/14 reb/5 ast, Hayes 7.

Adana ASKI:  Shavonte’ Zellous 21, Erlana Larkins 18/8 reb.

Box score Yakin Dogu/Adana ASKI:
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1460&Sezon=156

 

Roneeka Hodges

(DTVK, Hungary)

I’ve just learned that Roneeka Hodges was picked up late in the year to play for the Aluinvent DVTK Miskolc team in Hungary.  News of her signing was learned on February 4 after DTVK terminated the contract of Tayler Hill after just four games.

Hodges has played a couple of games with the club since then.  On Tuesday, February 9 Hodges went 0-for-3 from long range and did not score in a 60-49 win against UNI Gyor.

On Saturday, DTVK got a 57-52 road win against Atomeromu to advance to 11-4 and third place in the Hungarian league.  Atomeromu turned the ball over 29 times in that game.  (DTVK didn’t do much better with 22 turnovers.)

DTVK:  Tina Jovanovic 11/8 reb, Hodges 10, Dora Horti 10.

Atomeromu:  Maja Scekic 12/5 ast, Kateryna Rymarenko 12/7 reb, Jade Barber (Eastern Kentucky 2013)

Box score DTVK/Atomeromu:
http://kosarsport.hu/game/whun/x1516/whun_76

Part of a DTVK interview on 2/12 where Hodges takes part:

 

Angel McCoughtry

(Mersin, Turkey)

McCoughtry had another big game for Mersin as they hosted Canik Bld and won 83-72 to retain Mersin’s tie for second place in the Turkish league at 14-5.  Mersin was up by 20 at halftime and up by 23 with three quarters over, so they let their game slide a bit in the fourth quarter for the final score.   They had 26 assists for the game and shot 9-for-25 behind the three point line.

Mersin:  McCoughtry 28/10 reb, Bria Hartley 17, Maria Kuzina 12, Aneika Henry 13/10 reb/5 ast.

Canik Bld:  Essence Carson 22, Natasha Lasy 17/12 ast, Zane Teilane 14/7 reb, Iva Perovanovic 12/6 reb.

Box score Mersin/Canik Bld:
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1459&Sezon=156

Complete game Mersin/Canik Bld:

 

Sancho Lyttle

(UMMC, Ekaterinburg)

On Wednesday, February 10, UMMC played the final game in the regular-season round of Euroleague, going on the road to the Czech Republic and beating current Euroleague champions USK Praha 69-52.  It was a tight game in the first half but UMMC made its presence felt in the second.  The Russians finished the regular season with a 12-2 record and first place in Group B.

The quarterfinals of Euroleague begin on March 8^th.  UMMC will take on the fourth place team in Group A, Galatasaray in a best-of-three series.

UMMC:  Diana Taurasi 21, Alba Torrens 15/7 reb, Brittney Griner 14/5 reb, Lyttle 4/9 reb.

USK Praha: Kia Vaughn 12/8 reb, Marta Xargay 10.

On Sunday, February 14, UMMC beat Energy Ivanovo 105-50 in the Russian league to stay undefeated at 17-0.  Both Diana Taurasi and Sancho Lyttle were held out of that game.

Box score UMMC/USK Praha: http://www.fibaeurope.com/euroleaguewomen/compID_jr6ZiXqeGhMBtfq1yxqV83.season_2016.roundID_11804.gameID_11814-B-54-14.html

Complete game UMMC/USK Praha:

 

Elizabeth Williams

(Istanbul Univ, Turkey)

On Saturday, Istanbul Univ hosted Botas and crushed them by a 96-60 score, to move up to 10-9 on the season.  Istanbul Univ is in sixth place in the Turkish league.  The home team won the rebounding battle 42-30 and had a 60-24 lead at halftime.

Istanbul Univ:  Tan White 26/5 reb/8 ast, Sasa Cado 23, Williams 13/10 reb, Viktoria Mircheva 12/7 reb.

Botas:  Milika Jovanovic 23, Pelin Bilgic 10, Avery Talbert 8/7 reb

Box score Istanbul Univ/Botas:
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1463&Sezon=156

 

Current Overall Statistics:

Matee Ajavon (Poland):  15 games, 14.1 ppg/3.9 rpg/4.5 apg

Cierra Burdick (Eurocup **):  8 games, 10.1 ppg/10.3 rpg/1.4 apg

Cierra Burdick (Italy):  18 games, 10.8 ppg/8.5 rpg/1.3 apg

Sydney Carter (Eurocup **):  10 games, 15.9 ppg/3.0 rpg/3.2 apg

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

Sydney Carter (EEWBL):  7 games, 9.1 ppg/2.0 rpg/2.1 apg

Damiris Dantas (Brazil):  6 games, 19.2 ppg/8.0 rpg/1.3 apg

Reshanda Gray (Italy):  18 games, 16.4 ppg/10.8 rpg/0.8 apg

Tiffany Hayes (Turkey):  19 games, 18.5 ppg/4.4 rpg/2.4 apg

Roneeka Hodges (Hungary):  2 games, 5.0 ppg/1.5 rpg/0.0 apg

Sancho Lyttle (Euroleague):  14 games, 7.5 ppg/7.4 rpg/1.4 apg

Sancho Lyttle (Russia):  11 games, 11.5 ppg/8.5 rpg/2.1 apg

Angel McCoughtry (Turkey):  18 games, 25.0 ppg/7.3 rpg/3.2 apg

Elizabeth Williams (Turkey):  16 games, 13.4 ppg/10.1 rpg/1.3 apg

** Eurocup season complete.