MUNICH (EuroLeague Women) – The penultimate week of action in 2018 was as eventful as ever with a number of wanted and unwanted season highs being set, as well as TTT Riga turning heads yet again with another eye-catching win.

Here are the main talking points from Week 6 – according to our women's basketball specialist Paul Nilsen, aka @Basketmedia365

TTT Riga make case for story of the season so far

 
Not even head coach Martins Zibarts could have seriously dreamed of a 4-2 record at this stage of the season during what has been an eagerly anticipated return to the competition. Even if they lose in Sopron next week, they will still be guaranteed to head into 2019 with a winning record. What a story that is. Not least when you consider they should have beaten Dynamo Kursk and were only just pipped, and that their budget is surely far, far lower than the one of this week's opponents Fenerbahce whom they beat 68-64. They have no real marquee stars (even if Shey Peddy is turning into a franchise player) and as Coach Zibarts tweeted, “The heart of our team is relentless effort.” Can all EuroLeague Women coaches say that? I doubt it.

Lewis re-ignites the flame at Carolo Basket with season high

Let’s face it, the past couple of weeks have been largely horrific for Carolo Basket. They suffered big losses, had a falling out with Queralt Casas who has since moved on to Sopron. Then, they were down against the 0-5 Olympiacos and looked to be on course for another demoralizing defeat. That would have been a body blow that they might not have recovered from. But with one knee on the canvas, they showed courage and real guts to compose themselves, fight back and knock out their opponents. It got them back on an even keel at 3-3, but more importantly, they remembered that EuroLeague Women winning feeling again. It was a special win because of the challenges in the previous weeks and it took a special performance from Kaleena Lewis. The winger set a season-high individual score of 32 points and was unstoppable.

Praha punch hard to rack up century

 
ZVVZ USK Praha are a mean machine. Not in terms of any kind of rugged defensive standpoint – quite the opposite. They are a mean machine that is so well oiled, the offensive tap does not get turned off at all. Coasting along with a healthy lead does not come naturally to this seriously offensive-orientated Coach and group of players. When on top against ESBVA-LM they kept bringing their offensive hammer down and kept their foot on the gas. It was a brutal demonstration of their armory and fitting that they recorded the highest score by any team this season with 101 points, to win the contest by 39. Alyssa Thomas was a leader yet again with 9-of-11 shooting, while several of her teammates also shot nicely. Praha really do pack a big punch.

Nadezhda suffocated to hit record low

It was eye-watering. Recently we witnessed CCC Polkowice and ESBVA-LM both marooned in the forties and not breaking fifty. But this offensive strangulation which Nadezhda suffered at the hands of CCC Polkowice was on another planet. In a decade of covering EuroLeague Women, I can rarely remember many clubs scoring as few points as 36 in a game. It was worrying that they finished terribly with just one basket in the last 10 minutes. A season low record and club low record in the competition is not what what you want to take into the last game of 2018 which is a crunch one against the still winless Schio.  What was particularly fascinating is that Brionna Jones who I praised last week still managed her customary double-double even in these circumstances. Hopefully for Coach Victor Lapena and his players they can put it down to a terrible day at the office and at least they can take comfort from the fact they had won the previous two games.

Under the radar

We are still waiting for a player to snap up 6 steals or more in a game this season. Shey Peddy and Alyssa Thomas of TTT Riga and ZVVZ UKS Praha both grabbed 5 steals in a game for the second time.

Yvonne Turner passed the rock 10 times for Sopron in their win at Hatay and joins five other players who have chalked double-digits in this category during a single game.

The 16 rebounds of Schio forward Jantel Lavender in the loss to UMMC was the second highest haul by any player this season.

FIBA