MUNICH (EuroLeague Women) - Women's basketball specialist Paul Nilsen reflects on the latest round of the 2015-16 EuroLeague Women season.

Agu Spor bring some serious noise

It was a rousing victory and one which was chalked up in front of a boisterous home crowd in Kayseri. They roared their team to a sensational win against the previously unbeaten UMMC Ekaterinburg.

Agu Spor threw a suffocating defensive blanket over UMMC, who couldn't get anything to drop and full credit must go to the home side who might not ever get mentioned as contenders - but on this evidence, that would be a mistake to discount them completely in the race to Final Four.

Equally, as brilliant as it was, it was only one result and the same applies when dissecting the display of UMMC. It wasn't the final margin which raised eyebrows, but the way UMMC lost the plot on offence so quickly and I can't remember them ever going ten minutes with just one score.

Perhaps most worryingly of all is that their bench brought just five points to the table and for a team so stacked - it was somewhat alarming.

A touch of deja vu with Wisla

For the second review in a row [albeit punctuated by the EuroBasket Women 2017 qualifying window], here I am writing about a fabulous and unlikely victory for Wisla Can-Pack. If you recall, some five quarters of basketball ago, Jose Hernandez and his team were staring at a 0-5 start and things were decidedly bleak.

Since then, they have transformed their season record to 2-4 and are now upbeat and with confidence growing. While the spectacular manner of their comeback win against Tango Bourges was not replicated this week, the importance and impressive final result certainly was.

For Nadezhda don't lose that often in Orenburg and it was an impressive place for Wisla to get their first road win of this campaign.

Watching the contest, it struck me how fortunes can turn so quickly. Those ingredients of hard work, some much needed luck, going back to fundamentals and confidence finally flooding through the veins can be a delicious recipe.

Things like Yvonne Turner banking a massive triple off the glass in the last five minutes for Wisla had me sensing it could be their night once again. But at that point there was a long way to go and credit to them for holding their nerve.

Weekly gongs
Team performance of the week: I am tempted to give it once again to Wisla Can-Pack for their efforts in Russia, but I can't look past the way that Agu Spor Kulubu dismantled UMMC Ekaterinburg - so they get the nod from me!
Individual performance of the week: Alexandria Quigley helped to take Fenerbahce top of Group A with a quality 29-point haul in Schio and that was about as influential as any other performance this week and so she gets my vote!
Unsung hero: Sara Chevaugeon didn't miss a shot all night for Tango Bourges against Mithra Castors Braine and her 10-point cameo off the bench in such a tight and low scoring game was crucial.
Rising star: Kseniia Levchenko was able to register 10 minutes with Dynamo Kursk and responded with an efficient and lively six points, two assists and three steals.

Crunching the numbers!
There were a raft of statistical noteworthy points this week, including:
- Spanish veteran Laia Palau becoming the first player to reach double-digits in assists during a single game this season after dishing up 11 for ZVVZ USK Prague at home to Spar CityLift Girona.
- Her Prague team-mate and fellow Spain national team colleague Marta Xargay becoming the first player to grab six steals in a game this season.
- Linked to this was Spar CityLift Girona spilling the ball more times than any other club in a game so far, coughing it up 29 times in the Czech capital.
- Dynamo Kursk racked up the highest score in a game this season when they fired 98 points past struggling Uniqa Sopron.
- Within that game, Kursk equalled the season-high record for assists in a single game, racking up 24 of them to equal their efforts in a contest earlier in the season!
- Good Angels Kosice became only the second team to pass the 50 milestone on the glass and pulled down a season high in the competition of 51 boards, but it wasn't enough to facilitate victory.
- Villeneuve d'Ascq won an overtime nail-biter against Kosice and they were helped by accumulating 37 defensive rebounds which was the highest tally by anyone this season.

Footnotes
- She would have dreamed of a winning return to the court after her ACL injury, but it wasn't to be. Nevertheless, it must have felt good for former Russia national team shooter Natalia Zhedik to be playing EuroLeague Women minutes again with Nadezhda. It was certainly good to see her back in business - and ditto for Alba Torrens, who came back with UMMC - but was also on the losing side.
- Lindsey Harding got her international clearance as expected for Dynamo Kursk and will be a steady hand in the absence of ACL injury victim, Epiphanny Prince. I also note that last year's Final Four participants have still not yet won on the road this season and that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, before it becomes a real issue.

Go to fibaeurope.com/euroleaguewomen for full coverage of the EuroLeague Women.

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