15 September, 2021
10 April, 2022
31 Maryia Papova (UMMC), 1 Viktoriia Zavialova (UMMC), 42 Brittney Griner (UMMC), 33 Emma Meesseman (UMMC)
27/10/2021
Review
to read

Drama as Bentley hits a birthday game-winner for UMMC, history for MBA Moscow

MUNICH (Germany) - There were some dramatic and memorable moments on Gameday 4 of the EuroLeague Women Regular Season as UMMC Ekaterinburg dodged a bullet thanks to a late intervention from Alex Bentley, while MBA Moscow claimed a first-ever victory in the competition.

Having been victims of an unwanted upset in last week's SuperCup Women against Valencia, UMMC almost came unstuck once more as they only just edged out ZVVZ USK Praha in arguably the most entertaining game of the season so far.

Trailing heading into the closing seconds, Alex Bentley made it a very special birthday for herself as she knocked down a triple from the corner on the buzzer to wrap up a 75-73 victory for the defending champions.


It had looked like Praha might hand their opponents the rarest of back-to-back defeats off the back of an excellent 7-of-8 shooting effort from Veronika Vorackova, as well as 17 points and 8 boards from Brionna Jones. However, helped by a 15-point and 10-rebound display from Jonquel Jones, plus the late intervention of Bentley, UMMC survived to move to 4-0 in Group A.

History was guaranteed when MBA Moscow hosted KSC Szekszard since both Regular Season rookies were searching for their maiden EuroLeague Women win. 


It was the former who prevailed as they claimed a landmark 65-62 triumph, managing to come from a double-digit deficit to get the job done.-MBA relied on a team-high 13 points from Karina Nizamova, plus 10 points from Alexandra Stolyar, Elena Kirillova, and Zhosselina Maiga who also had 10 rebounds. Nikolina Milic netted 19 points in defeat for Szkeszard who now have the unwanted label as being the only club yet to secure a win this season in the competition. 


Also in Group A, TTT Riga posted an eye-catching result as they secured successive victories by moving past Reyer Venezia in convincing fashion. They picked up a 71-57 success thanks mainly to a superb 19 points and 10 boards from Daugile Sarauskaite, with Ieva Pulvere posting the perfect cameo with 17 points and 6 assists. 

Perfumerias Avenida extended their unbeaten start to four games as they took down BLMA 88-67. While Sydney Wallace carried the fight to the flawless Spanish side with 24 ponts for the visitors, the depth of Avenida was telling.  Bella Alarie, Katie-Lou Samuelson, Andrea Vilaro Aragones, Leonor Rodriguez all filed double-digit scoring returns, as did Karlie Samuelson who had a team-high 17 points.

Meanwhile in Group B, there was relief for VBW Arka Gdynia as they got their first win of the season at the fourth attempt by beating Beretta Famila Schio 71-67. It was an 11-0 run with less than give minutes remaining that gave the Polish champions the foundation to push on and take the victory and condemn Schio to a third loss of the campaign.


Morgan Quinn Bertsch stood out with 18 points and there was a 10-point and 10-rebound offering from Megan Gustafson as the home team fended off a late salvage mission from the visitors.

Fenerbahce Safiport arguably posted the most impressive result of the night as they raced their way to a 73-47 victory against the previously unbeaten Sopron Basket.


Kayla McBride went off for 28 points and the returning Kiah Stokes made a difference as her strength dovetailed with Elizabeth Williams who finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. 

Dynamo Kursk also bounced back to winning ways impressively as they strode past Spar Girona 92-75 to underline why they are the tournament's leading scorers. 


There was a trio of classy contributions from Nika Baric who had 14 points and 9 assists, Eva Lisec had 14 points and 11 rebounds, with Natasha Howard the standout as she shone brightly with 26 points and 8 rebounds. Despite the loss, Kennedy Burke was still on fire for Girona as she scored 25 points.

Galatasaray also completed a one-sided win as they made light work of surging past Basket Landes 83-64 as the French side's roller-coaster campaign continued.


A rapid start helped as the home side started 21-8 and never had cause to look back. Anete Steinberga did plenty of damage with 21 points and 8 rebounds, while Tina Krajisnik amassed 14 points and 8 boards alongside her, with Riquna Williams adding 14 points and 8 assists from the backcourt.

FIBA