Roundup: Galatasaray storm past Fenerbahce in derby

ISTANBUL (EuroCup Women/EuroLeague Women) – There was joy for Galatasaray after they posted a memorable 89-73 derby success against their bitter Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce.

GO-TIME FOR GALATASARAY

Having recently exited EuroCup Women at the Semi-Finals stage, Galatasaray head coach Marina Maljkovic and her players made a major statement as they caught fire in a stunning third quarter at the Abdi Ipekci Arena.

Despite being without Isil Alben, they blew Fenerbahce off the court with a 33-12 third period that transformed the contest, having been behind by nine points at half-time. Yvonne Anderson poured in 24 points, with Moriah Jefferson adding 20 and Latvian center Kristine Vitola completing a 10-point and 10-rebound double-double.

The result means Yakin Dogu Universitesi are on the brink of adding the Regular Season title to their list of achievements after they beat Besiktas 70-65, with Courtney Vandersloot starring with 22 points and seven assists.

Bellona Agu kept their top four spot after 10 points and 10 assists from Chelsea Gray carried them to a comfortable 77-53 win at Botas. Hatay also won on the road after beating MBK Dogus Hastanesi 78-69, with Courtney Paris in fine form with 21 points and 10 boards.

Samsun continued to move towards safety with a 101-86 victory at Istanbul Universitesi as Frida Eldebrink finished with 24 points and 11 assists, while Eshaya Murphy and Viktoriya Mircheva both scored 27 points.

JOHNSON AND TURNER TAKE SOPRON TO CUP SUCCESS

Uniqa Sopron roared their way to a seventh Hungarian Cup after they overwhelmed VBW CEKK Cegled 94-64 to land the coveted silverware.

After a slow start, both Shenise Johnson and Yvonne Turner came alive to catapult their team to victory with 31 and 21 points respectively.

HOME SWEET HOME FOR FRENCH CLUBS

The Quarter-Finals of the French League got underway and there were a quartet of home victories, although only just for BLMA who squeezed past Hainaut 76-75 in overtime with Elodie Godin the hero as she made the big plays and finished with 25 points and nine rebounds.

Flammes Carolo Basket raced past Nantes Reze 89-68 with Nayo Raincock adding 14 points and nine rebounds for the winning team and her Canada national colleague Katherine Plouffe recording 21 points in defeat.

ESBVA-LM moved 1-0 ahead in their series against Mondeville as Mame-Marie Sy-Diop inspired an 82-76 success with 20 points.

Tango Bourges Basket are also on the front foot after easing to a 78-65 victory at home to Basket Landes as Marine Johannes stood out with 16 points.

BITTER-SWEET FOR POLKOWICE AND WISLA

It’s honors even for CCC Polkowice and Wisla Can-Pack in their respective BLK Semi-Final series which are both finely poised at 1-1. The former will be more pleased with their weekend’s work since they were able to split two road games at derby rivals Sleza Wroclaw. An 18-point haul from Jamierra Faulkner led to Polkowice sneaking what could be a priceless 66-64 win, although they then lost 62-52.

Wisla lost their first game on home soil 68-65 against Artego Bydgoszcz, but bounced back in front of their own fans with a convincing 81-66 success as Spanish guard Sandra Ygueravide impressed with 19 points.

ELHOTOVA BACK IN ACTION FOR ZVVZ USK PRAGUE

Although she didn’t feature in this weekend’s 83-67 win against Basketball Nymburk, the good news for Czech Republic fans is that Katerina Elhotova has been back in a ZVVZ USK Prague jersey in the past week. Having taken maternity leave, she appeared in the first game of their Semi-Finals series which they won 107-44.

ELSEWHERE IN EUROPE

UMMC Ekaterinburg won the first game of their Semi-Finals series against Nadezhda in the Russian League 85-50 as Brittney Griner racked up 25 points.

Good Angels Kosice conquered the EEWBL for the first time as they beat TTT Riga 67-44 on their home court as Teja Oblak led the way with 15 points and six rebounds.

FIBA