BUCHAREST (Romania) - Azerbaijan romped through the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series Bucharest Stop on July 11-13 to capture their first title of the season in style.
Here's what happened at the eighth stop of the season. The winner: Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan became the fifth winner on the Women's Series 2025 after an unbeaten campaign that started in the QD. They had to do it the hard way, but had no problems in the QD before overcoming Ukraine in a thrilling pool game after Brianna Fraser stepped up in the clutch.
Fraser played bully ball against China in the quarter-finals with 8 points and 10 rebounds as Azerbaijan edged the Asian power before silencing the loud fans with another tough dub over hometown heroes CS Rapid Bucharest (ROU).
Fraser again completely dominated the paint to prove the difference in the final against Seattle 3XBA (USA). She finished with game highs of 7 points and 10 rebounds to walk off with the MVP.
The runner-up: Seattle 3XBA (USA)
Much like Azerbaijan, Seattle 3XBA emerged from QD and stormed their way to the final. The Americans made a mockery of being the 16th and lowest seed after blitzing their way through QD and the pool stage.
The knockouts proved much more difficult with Seattle slowed down by in-form Poland in the quarters, but their defense held firm in a 16-13 victory. Sydney Taylor and Alyssa Ustby packed a formidable one-two punch in their easy semi-final victory over Ukraine before they just fell short of a title against Azerbaijan.
Taylor and Ustby combined for 62 points in the tournament as Seattle impressed in their season debut.
The Final: Azerbaijan 21-Seattle 3XBA 18
Both teams were hoping to cap memorable runs from the QD. The formidable presence of Fraser got Azerbaijan going with a bucket in the paint before Ustby countered with an acrobatic layup that was fitting of her legendary No.23 jersey.
Seattle's athleticism caused problems with Taylor exploding to the rim for the layup to give her team the edge. But Arica Carter went bang to level the scores at the midpoint as the teams continued to trade blows.
A 5-2 run from Azerbaijan capped by a layup from the speedy Carter pulled them to the brink of the title. Ustby tried to keep Seattle afloat with the tough make off the glass, but Carter came up clutch as Azerbaijan claimed a high-octane final well before the time limit.
Final Standings: 1. Azerbaijan 2. Seattle 3XBA (USA) 3. CS Rapid Bucharest (ROU) 4. Ukraine 5. China Next Stop: The W Series will journey to Jakarta on July 24-25.
FIBA