It’s the WNBA offseason, but for several Sparks players, their basketball season continues – countries away from Los Angeles. To keep up with international play and to see how your favorites are Sparkling Overseas…Sparks.com will keep you updated weekly!
March 7 – 21: BGD lost a close game to Istanbul Univ (game recap). BGD is now ranked 9th with a 9-14 record.. In the loss, Abdi added eight points, three steals and two assists as a starter. Through 22 games is averaging 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. With three games in the regular season remaining, Gelistirenler will face #4 ranked Galatasaray in hopes of ending its season on a winning note.
Click here to view Abdi’s stats
March 7 – 21: Avenida hasn’t lost an LFB match since its opening game back in November. With a 23-game winning streak, Avenida’s most recent victory was over winning ways, the team most Ferrol, 79-66, (game recap). Sharing first place with Zamarat and will next face Socinsa Bembibre (#7) to pull away with it’s #1 ranking with two games remaining in the regular season.
In EuroLeague play, Avenida fell in its final regular season game to Dynamo Kursk, 72-66. (game recap). In ten minutes on the court, Beard added 2 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound.
Click here to view Beard’s stats
March 7 – 21: ViVe dropped its second consecutive game, falling 78-75 to FOA. (game recap). The higher ranked ViVe fell to fifth ranked Forssan Aiku in what ended up being the most exciting game of round 25 action. Four ViVe players scored in double-figures including Crystal Bradford who poured in 14 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists and one steal. Three games remain in the schedule, ViVe dropped to third position in the standings. Next up ViVe faces Huima on March 22.
Click here to view Bradford’s stats
March 7 – 21: Einsey is another victim of a two-game losing streak, it’s most recent defeat at the hands of Sparta&K MR, 78-59 (game recap). In 13 minutes, Hamson added four points, five rebounds and one assist. In its second to last regular season game, Enisey will again face Dynamo K on March 23. The last time these two teams met, Dynamo pulled away with a 20-point victory.
Enisey is eliminated from the 2015-16 EuroCup playoffs. Through eight games in EuroCup, Hamson averaged a team-high 7.6 rpg to go with 8.3 ppg.
Click here to view Hamson’s stats
March 7 – 21:Fenerbahce (#1) continued its winning streak with its 19th victory, (game recap) beating 13th ranked Adana ASKI (6-17), 76-66. Lavender contributed a tied game-high 24 points and tied team-high nine rebounds in the win. Winning its eleventh consecutive, Fenerbahce maintains first place with a 19-4 record. They will meet second-place Hatay on March 26 as the final few games of the KBSL regular season winds down. Through 22 games, Lavender is the team’s leading rebounder (7.8rpg) and ranks second in scoring (17.2 ppg).
Fenerbahce pulled away an upset with a 2-0 sweep over WIsla-Krakow in the EuroLeague quarter finals. Fenerbahce scored 79 points in both victories (Game 1 recap) . (Game 2 recap) to defeat WIsla and advance to the semi-finals against Nadezhda-O on April 15.
Click here to view Lavender’s stats
March 7 – 21: Dynamo Kursk’s (game recap) five game winning streak came to an end against Kristi Toliver’s UMMC on March 19. Despite a tied game-high 27 points from Nneka Ogwumike, Dynamo K fell, 97-81. Ogwumike still ranks atop the league leader in points per game averaging 20plus points per game (20.4 ppg) and sits eighth among league leaders in rebounds with 7.3 rpg. Sitting fourth in the PBL standings at 15-5, Dynamo K has two league games remaining. Next up: Enisey on March 23.
In EuroLeague quarter-finals Dynamo fell to Nadezhda in both games, losing 2-0. The series tipped-off with a 76-68 loss in the first game (game recap),as Nadezhda took a 1-0 lead. Ogwumike poured in a game-high 22 points (8 – 16) and added five rebounds. In the second game, Dynamo lost a close game, 73-70, to fall 2-0 in the quarter-finals against Nadezhda. Ogwumike put in a solid effort with the team’s only double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds while also contributing adding five assists and one steal. (game recap).
Click here to view Ogwumike’s stats
March 7 – 21: The PBL leading UMMC sits atop the PBL standings with an impressive 20-0 record! It’s latest victim, Nneka Ogwumike and Dynamo K, a 97-81 victory. With only two rounds remaining in league play, UMMC will next face 9th ranked Spartak N on March 23.
In its EuroLeague quarter-finals match against Galatasaray on March 8, UMMC took the first game of the series, 72-56. Toliver added 10 points, 1 assist, 1 steal and 22 minutes off the bench in the win. Five UMMC players scored in double-figures, led by Diana Taurasi with a team-high 17 points. (game recap). Game two was all Galatasaray, pushing the series to a winner take all game on March 16. Galatasaray defeated UMMC, 66-57 (game recap) to even out the series. In game three, UMMC came up victorious with a 20-point win, led by Taurasi’s 26 points, for a final 86-66 victory (game recap). Semi-Finals tip-off April 15 vs. USK Praha.
Click here to view Toliver’s stats
International Roster:
Farhiya Abdi – Basketbolu Gelistirenler (Turkey – KBSL)
Alana Beard – Perfumerias Avenida– (Spain – LFB)
Crystal Bradford – Vimpelin Veto (Finland – SM – Sarja )
Jennifer Hamson – Enisey (Russia – PBL)
Jantel Lavender – Fenerbahce (Turkey – KBSL)
Nneka Ogwumike – Dynamo Kursk (Russia – PBL)
Kristi Toliver – UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia – PBL)