Women's Euroleague 2010-11

[MarkoMilic]

Fenerbahce announced Diana Taurasi for the next season and Penny Taylor will also stay. Great news for us...

Edit: Fenerbahce has also signed with Laszlo Ratgeber, former Spartak and Mizo Pecs' coach...

[rikhardur]

Fenerbahce announced Diana Taurasi for the next season and Penny Taylor will also stay. Great news for us...


Taurasi Signs For Fenerbahce

Fenerbahce have signed Diana Taurasi, arguably the best player in the world.

The USA international, the four-time champion of the EuroLeague Women with Spartak Moscow Region that was voted MVP of the last two Final Fours, has joined the Istanbul club which just successfully defended its Turkish domestic title with a 3-0 sweep of Galatasaray in the play-off finals.

By signing Taurasi, Fenerbahce have added a player that has won championships for every team she's played for.

She averaged 24.9 points, 3.8 assists and 5.7 rebounds this season for Spartak in the EuroLeague Women.

At the Final Four, Taurasi poured in 37 points in their narrow Semi-Final win over UMMC Ekaterinburg and then scored 29 in the title-clinching triumph over hosts Ros Casares.

Fenerbahce may have decided to aggressively pursue the former University of Connecticut star after she tore them apart in two Quarter-Final games in this year's post-season.

The 27-year-old had 28 points in Spartak's Game 1 victory and a season-high 38 in Game 2, a contest Spartak won in overtime after coming from behind in the fourth quarter.

Taurasi looks to have become the biggest hit in the history of Turkish women's basketball if her facebook page is anything to go by.

Her page has been bombarded with welcome messages from Fenerbahce fans.

Fener have yet to confirm their coach for next season, but it is being widely reported all over Europe the Taurasi's former boss at Spartak, Laszlo Ratgeber, will lead the Turkish giants next season.
http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_vbIcAKdhHlEb6YAwCY8u,1.articleMode_on.contain er_frontpage.html

[mbenga]

Ros casares is a big question mark, they're revamping the whole team.
Elisa Aguilar, Amaya Valdemoro, Anna Montañana, DeLisha Milton-Jones and Erika de Souza leave the team. They have added Nuria Martinez, Edwige Lawson, Marta Fernandez and Rebekkah Brunson so far, some expect still a BIG name to complete the roster.

Perfumerias Avenida is the destiny of Montañana and De Souza which IMO makes them finally a serious contender, not favourites of course, to the EL title (they played the final 2 years ago but it was almost a miracle and really had no chance to win)

Valdemoro heads to Rivas.

[JGX]

Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus to Galatasaray.

[MarkoMilic]

According to this (http://www.pota6.com/2010/05/24/ivana-matovic-fenerbahcede-ozel-haber/) Fenerbahce has agreed with Ivana Matovic.

[MarkoMilic]

Fenerbahce has officially announced Ivana Matovic and domestic player Saziye Ivegin.

Mizo Pecs' player Anna Vajda is the next one, she has agreed with Fener.

[mbenga]

Perfumerias Avenida completes the roster with Belinda Snell and still might add another big.

Dominguez/Xargay
Snell/Sanchez
Torrens/De Mondt
De Souza/Montañana
Lyttle/Gastaminza

They may noot have any Lauren Jackson, Taurasi or Parker but that's a pretty damn good team.

[MarkoMilic]

Fenerbahce announced (http://www.fenerbahce.org/fb2008/detay.asp?ContentID=19986) Anna Vajda and Hana Horakova. The final roster looks like:

Birsel Vardarlı-Esmeral Tunçluer
Diana Taurasi-Hana Horakova
Penny Taylor-Şaziye Karslı-Begüm Dalgalar
Anna Vajda-Kristin Newlin
Ivana Matovic-Nevriye Yılmaz

Inspiring...

[JGX]

Fenerbahce lost their Turkish League opener 61-60 against Pankup, with Taurasi shooting an incredible 0-15 from the field.

[GSBasket]

Today Galatasaray beat Tarbes by 84-68.

Sylvia Fowles dominated the match with 16 pts, 11 rebs and 3 blks. Also Seimone Augustus made 20 pts, 7 rebs and Işıl Alben played with 10 pts and 10 asists.

[Mindozas]

Kaunas Vici beat reigning champs Spartak with buzzer beater :eek: However, almost all game long Vici led by double diggits, at one point it was almost 20pts difference. Huge surprise to me, I knew that Spartak is weakened, but didn't expect any close result and moreover a win

[gio]

Rivas Ecopolis 82-91 Fenerbahçe

http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8jInH7Qj1EsyH5rjn2.compID_jr6ZiXqeGhMBtfq1 yxqV83.coid_7-4jPvbmHww-lYRDbaYmb2.articleMode_on.html

[CKR13]

Diana Taurasi was named EuroLeague Player of the Week after she scored 34 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 7 assists plus three steals as Fenerbahce Istanbul beat Gospic Croatia 109-92.

[BasketballTog]

Few photos from Lotos Gdynia vs Gospic Croatia
http://basketballviews.com/image-galleries/euroball-image-galleries/299-lotos-gdynia-gospic-croatia

[CKR13]

Team USA Members are doing well:

Diana Taurasi currently leads all scorers with 27.3ppg while another American Dewanna Bonner is seventh overall with 18.8 ppg.

Cheryl Ford is currently leading the League in rebounding with 12.5rpg and second is Tina Charles with 11.8 rpg. Fourth best rebounder is Sylvia Fowles with 10.7rpg and followed by Dewanna Bonner with 10.5rpg.

USA Basketball (http://www.usabasketball.com/womens/national/10-11_euroleague_update_week_04.html) keeps tracks of American players in the Women's EL:


GROUP A
Good Angels Kosice 75, Pécs 2010 57
Good Angels Kosice (3-1) used a late surge to pull away in the fourth quarter for a 75-57 victory over Pécs 2010 (1-3). USA World Championship Team gold medalist Candice Dupree, eight points, and Charde Houston, seven points, combined to score 15 points in the fourth quarter as Good Angels outscored the visitors 24-8 in the final stanza. Houston led all scorers with 19 points to go with seven rebounds, while Dupree scored 18 points, grabbed six boards, and contributed three steals and three blocked shots. Former DePaul standout Allie Quigley posted a game-best 14 points in the loss.

Wisla Can-Pack 89, TTT Riga 48
Wisla Can-Pack Krakow (2-2) evened its record to 2-2 after handing TTT Riga (0-4) a 89-48 defeat. The Polish side was led to victory by Australia’s Erin Phillips, who scored a game-best 25 points after shooting 9-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-6 from 3-point. Janel Burse scored seven points for Wisla and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. TTT Riga, which is still looking for its first win of the season, received a team-high 10 points from Kim Butler.

USO Mondeville 64, Cras Basket Taranto 59
USO Mondeville (3-1) pulled out a 64-59 win over previously undefeated Cras Basket Taranto (3-1), creating a three-way tie for the top spot in Group A. Trailing 19-16 after the first quarter, the French squad put together an eventual game-deciding 18-11 second-quarter run and fought off a second-half attack by Cras Basket Taranto for the win. The Ukraine’s Valeriya Berezhynska posted a monstrous 19-point, 16-rebound double-double in leading her team to victory. Megan Mahony top-scored for Taranto with 17 points to go with a team-high nine assists.

GROUP B

Rivas Ecópolis 92, Gospic Croatia 75
Rivas Ecópolis (1-3) picked up its first win of the season after dispatching the still-winless Gospic Croatia (0-4) 92-75. Rivas broke open the game by outscoring Gospic 27-13 in the second quarter and never looked back en route to the win. A pair of 2007 USA U21 World Championship gold medalists Dewonna Bonner, 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Courtney Paris 12 points and seven rebounds, led their team to victory.

UMMC Ekaterinburg 80, MKB Euroleasing
UMMC Ekaterinburg (4-0) held Angel McCoughtry to just 5-of-19 shooting from the field and 14 points as it expanded on an early lead throughout the game for an 80-61 final over MKB Euroleasing (2-2). This was expected to be a close game, but somebody forgot to tell that to the hosts, who closed the first period up 26-17, went up 44-32 at the half and 59-42 at the end of the third period, before taking the eventual 80-61 victory.

Poland’s Agnieszka ‘Biba’ Bibrzycka was UMMC’s leading scorer with 18 points, while USA U21 gold medalist Crystal Langhorne posted 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists; and 2008 U.S. Olympic gold medalist Cappie Pondexter contributed 11 points and four assists. McCoughtry finished with 14 points, her lowest output of the season, while the Hungarian club was led by Latvian Zane Tamane with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

"We played against a strong team, and showed good team work,” Langhorne told FIBAEurope.com. “We played well in defense and stopped the opponents."

Fenerbache S.K. 107, Lotos Gdynia 84
Behind 2009-10 EuroLeague scoring champion Diana Taurasi’s game-high 25 points in 27 minutes, Fenerbache S.K. (4-0) also remained undefeated after blowing past Lotos Gdynia (1-3) 107-84.

Fener started off slowly and mirrored the struggles by Taurasi, who scored four points, dealt three assists and was whistled for two fouls in the opening 6:15. She sat the remainder of the first period, which ended with Fener holding a slim 27-23 margin.

Sitting on the bench seemed to motivate Taurasi. She checked in to start the second period and after Lotos pulled within two, Taurasi sunk a 3-pointer, her first of four on the night, to up the lead to 30-25. That was the spark that Fenerbache needed as it jumped ahead 42-28 at 6:38 and closed the half with a commanding 60-39 lead. In all, Taurasi scored 18 points and dished out a pair of assists as Fener outscored Lotos 33-16 to put the game away in the second period.

"Everybody played very well tonight,” Taurasi told FIBAEurope.com. “We played good basketball in our own court. Our supporters are great and tonight they were very important for us. My thanks go to our fans tonight."

Taurasi, who hit for 9-of-13 from the field, was perfect from beyond the arc, netting all four of her tries. Additionally, she had three rebounds and six assists. Serbian Ivana Matovic scored 24 points and Australia’s Penny Taylor added 11 points.

Monica Wright scored 24 points in the loss.

GROUP C

ZVVZ Prague 83, VICI Aistes 72
DeLisha Milton-Jones scored 18 points and Lindsay Whalen contributed 16 points, six rebounds and six assists as ZVVZ Prague (2-2) notched its second win in as many weeks, clipping VICI Aistes Kaunas (1-3) 83-72. The Czech club struck first, went up 9-2 in the opening minutes, owned a 50-39 halftime lead and pulled out the win. In addition to the pair of USA Basketball gold medalists, ZVVZ USK Prague was aided in the win by the Czech Republic’s Eva Viteckova, 21 points, and Katerina Elhotova, 16 points.

Spartak Moscow Region 87, Tarbes GB 55
After dropping its first two games, it looks as if Spartak Moscow Region (2-2) is back on track after closing out Tarbes Gespe Bigorre (1-3) 87-55 in Russia. Spartak ran up a 10-point lead, 14-4, with 4:37 to play in the first quarter and never looked back. The hosts went up 27-10 at the end of the first period, held a 42-25 lead at the half, and then blew the game out of the water with a 68-37 advantage heading into the final stanza. The Russian club, which is awaiting the arrival of Sue Bird, received a game-high 24 points from Bird’s Seattle Storm teammate, Australia’s Lauren Jackson.

Halcon Avenida 86, Galatasaray MB 59
Halcon Avenida (4-0) distanced itself further from the rest of the pack in Group C with an 86-59 dismantling of Galatasaray M.P (2-2). The Spanish hosts pulled away by 10 points in the first quarter and upped their lead to 43-24 at the half and never looked back. Halcon Avenida, which is stacked heavily with key members of the 2010 Spain World Championship Team, held Gala to just 38.7 percent (24-62 FGs) shooting from the floor, while nailing 53.1 percent (24-64 FGs) of its attempts from the field. Sylvia Fowles, who was 7-of-10 from the field, finished with a team-high 15 points and her USA teammate Seimone Augustus scored 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting in the loss.

Group D

Bourges Basket 67, Frisco Sika Brno 62
Bourges Basket (3-1) grabbed a come-from-behind victory and moved into the second place slot in Group D after nipping Frisco Sika Brno (1-3) 67-62.

Trailing by nine points, 47-38, early in the third quarter, Bourges Basket slowly chipped away at the deficit and cut it to a more manageable 54-51 heading into the final stanza. The fourth quarter see-sawed and with 3:41 to play the score was knotted up at 60-all. Serbia’s Maja Miljkovic, who finished with six points, made a layup at 3:23 to put her team up for good, 62-60, as Bourges held on for the win. Endene Miyem and Catherine Joens scored 15 points apiece in the victory.

2006 USA World Championship Team member Cheryl Ford posted 24 points and 16 rebounds for Brno.

Ros Casares Valencia 60, KSSSE AZS-PWSZ Gorzow 53
Ros Casares Valencia (4-0) remained undefeated after knocking off KSSSE AZS-PWSZ Gorzow (1-3) 60-53. It was not pretty – Ros shot just 22-of-64 from the field and there were a combined 40 turnovers in the contest – but with the help of 16 points and 11 boards from Rebekkah Brunson and 16 points from Katie Douglas, Ros Casares put the game in the books.

Belarus’ Yelena Leuchanka had the best overall game for Gorzow with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Nadezhda 56, Beretta-Famila Schio 54
Tina Charles, who posted 11 points and 16 rebounds, and her Russian club Nadezhda (1-3) moved out of the winless column as it edged Beretta-Famila Schio (2-2) 56-54. After holding a 13-point, 52-39, lead through three quarters, Nadezhda went cold in the fourth quarter, but managed to hold off a late charge to earn the win. Belarus star Anastasiya Verameyenka also had 11 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for Nadezhda.

[DOMBILI]

Angel McCoughtry is the new deal of the year so far, UMMC-Fenerbahce is what I'm waiting for. Taurasi vs. Pondexter will be huge.

[CKR13]

UMMC-Fenerbahce is what I'm waiting for. Taurasi vs. Pondexter will be huge.

Same here. I'm looking forward to that possible match-up as well.

[gio]

UMMC Ekateriburg 67-73 Fenerbahçe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNo0VkexYks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zva8GFd11-4
:rolleyes:

[CKR13]

Fenerbache 79 Ecopolis 77

Diana Taurasi scores 22 points including converting 3 pressure filled free throws to seal the win. Taurasi also had 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Fenerbache is now 6-0.

[CKR13]

Fenerbache's Diana Taurasi has tested positive from a mild stimulant as reported by the media. Any information on what sanctions she might receive from the Euroleage? This is a clear violation of the Euroleague's Anti-Doping Policy.

[bilion]

George Dikeoulakos is the new coach of Polish champions Lotos Gdynia. The Greek coach is also in charge of the Latvian National Team.

[JGX]

Fenerbahce bought Angel McCoughtry from Sopron, presumably to replace Taurasi.

[rikhardur]

Halcon Avenida Capture Title

Halcon Avenida ended the four-year reign of Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje by winning the EuroLeague Women title game 68-59 in Ekaterinburg on Sunday.

The Salamanca club, beaten by Sparta&K in the championship game two seasons ago when they hosted the Final Four in Spain, got on top of Pokey Chatman's team early and never gave up the lead.

With Lucas Mondelo's team boasting the impressive frontline of Sancho Lyttle and Erika De Souza, it was the backcourt of captain Silva Dominguez and Alba Torrens and sharpshooter Belinda Snell that wreaked havoc in the first half.

The three players had seven points apiece at the break when Avenida led 30-22 and when Sparta&K made a run early in the third quarter, Dominguez stopped them cold in their tracks with a tip-in.

That started a 13-2 surge for Avenida that was finished off by the point guard's jump shot with 4:42 to go in the third.

That gave the Salamanca outfit a 43-28 advantage and took Dominguez's points haul to 11.

With 2:45 to play in the frame, shouts of "Vamos!" echoed through the arena when a Torrens three-ball stretched the lead to 50-30.

Sparta&K continued to fight, however, and chipped away at the deficit.

When Sparta&K center Taj McWilliams hit a jumper with 1:45 to play in the game, the Russians had shaved 14 points off the 20-point advantage.

The free-throw line then became a huge factor for the Spaniards.

Epiphanny Prince fouled Anke De Mondt and the Belgium international calmly sank two free-throws.

McWilliams went to the other end and scored to make it a six-point game again, but Avenida kept their noses in front.

Lyttle drew a foul and also made two at the charity stripe to take the advantage back to eight.

Prince and Sparta&K refused to go quietly.

The American guard buried a three-ball to reduce the arrears to five but Noelle Quinn fouled De Mondt and she once again hit two at the free-throws for a seven-point advantage.

After a Sparta&K timeout, Quinn's pass was intercepted by De Mondt and the Belgian was again fouled and made two more at the line.

Chatman's team played hard for the remainder of the game but Avenida continued to make free-throws and secured the most famous win in their history.

Avenida only made 21 of 29 free-throws, but sank their last 10 inside the final 1:35 to seal the triumph.

Dominguez, the captain, had 16 points in her finest-ever game for the club.

Torrens scored 13 points and Lyttle had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

For Sparta&K, McWilliams finished with a game-high 17 points and Sue Bird had 16.

Prince added 12 points in defeat.
http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_M-ZKHVHuJ,ojun7bYu9Fj2.articleMode_on.html

[JGX]

Great run by Halcon Avenida. When's the last time a team won without any American players?

[mbenga]

Great run by Halcon Avenida. When's the last time a team won without any American players?
IDK Bourges maybe?

BTW after a slightly dissapointing season Ros Casares is building a superteam to fight for everything.
http://www.encancha.com/articulo/12676
Silvia Domínguez, Katalin Honti, Laia Palau, Jana Vesela, Eshaya Murphy, Ann Wauters, Sancho Lyttle, Lauren Jackson and Maya moore (who won't join the team till january). :eek:

[JGX]

Taurasi signed with Galatasaray for next year...that should spice up the Istanbul rivalry!

[GSBasket]

Alba Torrens @Galatasaray Medical Park
Diana Taurasi @Galatasaray Medical Park
Tina Charles @Galatasaray Medical Park
Epiphanny Prince @Galatasaray Medical Park

Also Sylvia Fowles, Isil Alben, Bahar Caglar, Saziye Ivegin, Tugba Palazoglu are in our squad. But we dont believe in Coach Yildizoglu.