The holiday break is definitely over, and all of Atlanta’s healthy players (get well soon Dantas) have returned to play.  Three teams played in Euroleague and Eurocup games this week…but would any of them win?  One Atlanta Dream player would have to play three games over a series of four days.  One player’s team lost its seventh straight game, while another player’s team beat the best team in its domestic pro league.  To find out which players I’m writing about, check out this week’s Dream Overseas Report.

Matee Ajavon

(Energa Torun, Poland)

Ajavon returned to play on Saturday, January 9 with a home game against MKK Siedlce and her Energa Torun team dominated 95-68.  Energa Torun won every quarter and the visitors were slowly worn down, behind by nine points at halftime and outscored 41-23 in the second half.  The win moves Torun up to 6-8 on the season and a somewhat respectable seventh place in the Polish league.  MKK Siedlce, a team with no foreign players and five rookies, is at the bottom of the league.  Torun shot 51 percent in the game and out-rebounded the visitors 46-28.

Energa Torun:  Avajon 18/6 reb/5 ast, Emeila Tlumak 13/6 reb, Victoria Maucalay 12, Paulina Misiek 13, Charity Szczechowiak 10/9 reb.

MKK Sieldce:  Katarzyna Trzeciak 17/6 reb, Magdalena Parysek 17, Anna Olchowyk, 15/6 ast, Magdalena Koperwas 14/6 ast.

Box score Energa Torun/MKK Siedlce:
http://www.basketligakobiet.pl/mecz/35079/energa-torun—mkk-siedlce.html

Complete game Energa Torun/MKK Siedlce:

Cierra Burdick

(Napoli, Italy)

On Thursday, January 7, Napoli took on Russian team Sparta&K MR at home in the first game of a “best of two” series in the Eurocup Round of 16.  Napoli probably wished the Russians had stayed at home as the visitors clobbered Napoli 81-59, pretty much dooming Napoli’s chances to advance in Eurocup. Napoli will have to win this Thursday’s game by at least 22 points – in Russia – to move forward.

Sparta&K MR only turned the ball over six times and led from the opening tip, starting the game with an 8-0 run.  The only stat you need – Sparta&K MR shot almost 55 percent for the game; Napoli only shot 38 percent.

Napoli:  Natalie Achonwa 19/6 TO, Beatrice Carta 12, Burdick 10/16 reb, Gintare Petronyte 9/8 reb.

Sparta&K MR:  Emma Meesseman 17, Maria Vadeeva 14, Julia Gladkova 13, Daria Kolosovskaya 10.

Napoli continued to struggle when they got back to Italy, losing to Di Lupari on the road 75-54 to fall to 7-7 on the season.  They were down 21-8 on the first quarter and 53-20 at halftime, and the only player on Napoli that had a good first half was Burdick.  The loss ends a five game win streak for Napoli in the Italian league.  Napoli not only lost the rebounding battle, but Di Lupari had 22 assists to Napoli’s 10 for the game.

Napoli: Natalie Achonwa 16/7 reb, Burdick 16, Noelle Quinn 4.

Di Lupari:  Silvia Favento 14/7 reb, Florina Pascalau 14, Jasmine Bailey (Illinois-Chicago 2012) 12.

Box score Napoli/Sparta&K MR:
http://www.fibaeurope.com/eurocupwomen/compID_Rn2Om4j3HOcXtTFwJWFsh3.season_2016.roundID_11803.gameID_11818-3-A-1.html

Video report on Napoli/Sparta&K MR:
https://vimeo.com/151170745

Box score Napoli/Di Lupari:
http://lbf-web.dataproject-stats.com/Tabellino.asp?IdGara=16437

Complete game Napoli/Di Lupari:

Sydney Carter

(TTT Riga, Latvia)

It was going to be a busy beginning of 2016 for Sydney Carter as her team prepared to play three games over four days.  The third stage of Eastern European Women’s Basketball League (EEWBL) would be taking place which would make it a very busy weekend.

Carter and TTT Riga hosted Italian team Venezia in the first game of a “best of two” series in the Eurocup Round of 16.  Her team had better luck than Burdick’s Napoli team, but still lost to Venezia 67-61 on Thursday, January 7.  In order for TTT Riga to advance to the quarterfinals of Eurocup, they will have to go to Italy on January 14 and beat Venezia by at least seven points.

Karima Christmas had a 20 point game for Venezia to help the visitors get a critical road win.  A slow start probably hurt Riga as they were down 14-4 with five minutes left in the first.  A three pointer by Ieva Krastina managed to close Riga to within 64-61 with 1:24 left but Riga was shut out from then on.  Venezia only had six turnovers for the entire game.

TTT Riga:  Ieva Krastina 14, Kristen Mann 9, Carter 6 (2-for-12 shooting), Ieva Kulite 4/13 reb.

Venezia:  Karima Christmas 20/8 reb, Maria Ruzickova 12/14 reb, Caterina Dotto 12.

On Saturday, January 9^th TTT Riga returned to EEWBL play with a 81-50 win over fellow Latvian team 1182 Tallinn.  Riga built up a double-digit lead in the middle of the second quarter and never looked back.  Carter’s team had 17 steals and held their opponents to just 29 percent shooting.  1182 Tallinn turned the ball over 23 times.

TTT Riga:  Ieva Krastina 16, Zenta Melnika 14, Carter 7 (20 minutes played).

1182 Tallinn:  Marit Maaring 11.

On Sunday, January 10th TTT Riga picked up an easy 90-46 win over the Astana Tigers from Kazakhstan. Riga moved up to 7-0 in EEWBL play.  The Tigers only shot 27 percent for the game.  Carter played in the game, but only for seven minutes.

TTT Riga’s 7-0 record assured them of a first place finish as the EEWBL regular season concluded.  The EEWBL championship will be determined from April 15^th-17^th in Riga.

TTT Riga:  Zenta Melnika 16, Kristen Mann 11, Ruta Veidere 10, Carter 6 (7 minutes played).

Astana Tigers:  Nadezhda Kondrakova 12/6 reb, Ganna Zarytska 11.

Box score TTT Riga/Venezia:
http://www.fibaeurope.com/eurocupwomen/compID_Rn2Om4j3HOcXtTFwJWFsh3.season_2016.roundID_11803.gameID_11818-8-A-1.html

Box score TTT Riga/1182 Tallinn:
http://eewbl.eu/game/3102269/#mbt:103-400$t&0=1

Box score TTT Riga/Astana Tigers:
http://eewbl.eu/game/3102273/#mbt:103-400$t&0=1

Complete game TTT Riga/1182 Tallinn: 

Complete game TTT Riga/Astana Tigers:

Damiris Dantas

Damiris Dantas is currently recovering from a left leg tibia stress injury.

Reshanda Gray

(Battipaglia, Italy)

On Saturday, January 10, Gray’s young Battipaglia team put up a good fight against powerhouse Familia Schio, but ran out of gas and lost 77-67 to fall to 5-9 on the season.  Battipaglia led 23-16 after the first quarter and were down by only five points at halftime.  One writeup said that the key to the win was that the experience of Familia Schio allowed them to take advantage of Battipaglia’s mistakes.  Asia Boyd was praised for having a great game for Battipaglia.

Battipaglia:  Tagliamento Marzia 18, Asia Boyd 16, Gray 12, Kourtney Treffers 11/11 reb.

Familia Schio:  Jolene Anderson 23/7 reb, Isabelle Yacoubou 15/11 reb, Ashley Walker 10/6 reb.

Box score Battipaglia/Familia Schio:
http://lbf-web.dataproject-stats.com/Tabellino.asp?IdGara=16441

Complete game Battipaglia/Familia Schio:

Tiffany Hayes

(Yakin Dogu, Turkey)

On Saturday, Hayes’s team continued to struggle as they traveled to Gelistirenle and lost 72-62.  It was the seventh straight loss for Yakin Dogu. The loss drops Yakin Dogu to 4-10 on the season and tied for 11th place out of 14 teams.  Yakin Dogu took a 35-30 lead into the second half but lost that lead in the third quarter.  Despite winning the rebound battle, bad shots killed Yakin Dogu, particularly a 4-for-18 performance from three point range.

Yakin Dogu:  Alyssa Thomas 16/15 reb/6 ast, Kelsey Bone 15/11 reb, Hayes 12/8 reb.

Gelistirenle:  Imren Kubra 14, Courtney Vandersloot 13/6 reb/10 ast, Kristen Nevn 13.

Box score Yakin Dogu/Gelistirenle:
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1425&Sezon=156

Aneika Henry/Angel McCoughtry

(Mersin, Turkey)

Sunday, January 10 was a good day for Aneika Henry and Angel McCoughtry as their Mersin team hosted the best team in the Turkish league, Abdullah Gul, and beat the visitors 77-58.  A 47-29 halftime lead pretty much clinched this game for Mersin.  Abdullah Gul remains in first place at 11-3 but Mersin moves up into a tie for second place at 10-4.  A 1-for-11 performance behind the three-point line really hurt Abdullah Gul.

Mersin:  McCoughtry 24/6 reb, Henry 20/7 reb, Marina Kuzina 15/7 reb, Bria Hartley 12.

Abdullah Gul:  LaToya Sanders  21/8 reb/5 ast, Zoe Dimitrakou 13, Chelsea Gray 10, Janel McCarville 7/8 reb.

Box score Mersin/Abdullah Gul:
http://www.tbf.org.tr/ligler/kbsl/mac-detay?Lig=7368&MacNo=1BA1423&Sezon=156

Sancho Lyttle

(UMMC, Ekaterinburg)

On Thursday, January 7 UMMC took on fellow Russian team Nadezhda Orenburg in Group B.  Despite being the home squad, they lost 84-74 to fall to 7-2 in Group B, tied with Nadezhda.  It is the first time that Nadezha has ever beaten UMMC in Euroleague play.

Nadezhda scored 32 points in the first quarter to take a 17 point lead. Even more astonishing, despite the presence of players like Sancho Lyttle and Brittney Griner, Nadezhda beat UMMC in the points in the paint.  UMMC had nine blocked shots, but it didn’t help.

UMMC:  Diana Taurasi 19, Alba Torrens 17, Kristi Toliver 13, Lyttle 11/8 reb, Brittney Griner 8/6 reb/4 blk.

Nadezhda Orenburg:  DeWanna Bonner 23/12 reb, Anna Cruz 18, Kayla McBride 14, Angelica Robinson 13.

Back home in Russia, UMMC remained undefeated at 13-0 with a 101-52 Sunday win over MBA Moscow.  UMMC took a 14-3 lead to start the game and were never challenged.  MBA actually had a better shooting day from three point range (36.7 percent) than from inside the arc (24.2 percent).

UMMC:  Lyttle 20/13 reb, Kristi Toliver 16, Sandrine Gruda 14, Natalia Vieru 12/10 reb, Eugeniya Belyikova 11.

MBA Moscow:  Olga Aksenova 13.

Box score UMMC/Nadezhda Orenburg:
http://www.fibaeurope.com/euroleaguewomen/gameID_11814-B-36-9.html

Complete game UMMC/Nadezhda Orenburg:

Current Overall Statistics:

Matee Ajavon (Poland):  11 games, 13.7 ppg/3.7 rpg/5.0 apg

Cierra Burdick (Eurocup):  7 games, 10.4 ppg/11.0 rpg/1.4 apg

Cierra Burdick (Italy):  14 games, 9.8 ppg/8.2 rpg/1.3 apg

Sydney Carter (Eurocup):  7 games, 15.8 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

Reshanda Gray (Italy):  14 games, 17.0 ppg/11.0 rpg/0.6 apg

Tiffany Hayes (Turkey):  14 games, 19.9 ppg/4.5 rpg/2.1 apg

Aneika Henry (Turkey): 14 games, 15.7 ppg/10.5 rpg/2.4 apg

Sancho Lyttle (Euroleague):  9 games, 6.0 ppg/6.6 rpg/0.8 apg

Sancho Lyttle (Russia):  8 games, 12.1 ppg/8.1 rpg/2.3 apg

Angel McCoughtry (Turkey):  13 games, 25.0 ppg/7.8 rpg/3.6 apg