Roundup: Johannes receives Paris 2024 honor and UMMC and Kursk to meet in Russian Finals
MUNICH (EuroLeague/EuroCup Women) – French ace Marine Johannes will join the Athletes Commission for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, while UMMC and Dynamo Kursk will contest the Russian Finals again.
MUNICH (EuroLeague/EuroCup Women) – French ace Marine Johannes will join the Athletes Commission for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, while UMMC and Dynamo Kursk will contest the Russian Premier League Finals again.
Johannes named on prestigious list ahead of 2024 Olympics in Paris
Marine Johannes has been named as one of 18 French sporting stars who will make up an Athletes' Commission ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The Bourges standout will join her colleagues from different sports in ensuring the quality of installations for participating athletes, with Johannes chosen to represent basketball.
La Commission des Athlètes de #Paris2024. 18 membres, 34 médailles aux Jeux. Trois missions : 1⃣Engager toute la population sur 6 ans, 2⃣ Associer tous les athlètes 3⃣Partager leur expérience pour penser des Jeux qui marquent l'histoire cc @martinfkde @TonyESTANGUET @gatienjp pic.twitter.com/K5LFwFqXtV
— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) April 12, 2018
While the guard received the good news, there was not a smile after a rare loss for her club side as the LFB Regular Season came to a close. The locals don't witness many LFB defeats at Le Prado, but Bourges finished with a nail-biting 76-77 loss to second-placed Carolo Basket. Sweden national team player Kalis Loyd plundered 19 points for the visitors.
The other main talking point was that Basket Landes secured fourth place and home advantage in the Play-Offs, courtesy of an impressive 56-68 road win at BLMA as Celine Dumerc netted 16 points.
UMMC and Kursk to meet again
They will go head to head in this week's EuroLeague Women Semi-Finals in Sopron and now UMMC and Dynamo Kursk will also battle it out in the Finals of the Russian Premier League. Both teams booked their spots with ease and fans will be hoping for a repeat of last year's classic five-game series that went down to the final seconds.
UMMC finished the job with a crushing 90-47 win at DIVS Arena against Enisey Krasnoyarsk as Maya Moore led the way with an 18-point contribution. Dynamo Kursk had to work much harder for an 83-88 victory at Nadezhda. The visitors were troubled by 26 points from home favorite Alex Bentley, but 22 points from Angel McCoughtry and 16 from Nneka Ogwumike carried them through.
CCC Polkowice threaten Wisla and Sleza Wroclaw get ready to defend title
Reigning Polish champions Sleza Wroclaw are on the verge of another Finals appearance, while CCC Polkowice are close to facing them after upsetting higher seeds and fellow EuroLeague Women club, Wisla CANPACK.
It was a double road win in Krakow for CCC who followed up an opening 58-63 triumph, with a similarly tight 59-63 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the five game series. British forward Temi Fagbenle continued her smart form with 14 points, having also added 22 points in the opener.
2:0!💪🔥 @wislabasket 59:63 @CCC_Polkowice #playoffs 💪🏀 pic.twitter.com/sR36tOVcwi
— CCC Polkowice (@CCC_Polkowice) April 15, 2018
Sleza Wroclaw are 2-0 up on Artego Bydgoszcz after also doing the business on their travels, stretching their advantage with a 57-61 win off the back of a shared 28 points from Tijana Ajdukovic and Sharnee Zoll-Norman who also had 7 assists.
Yakin Dogu finish in pole position as Galatasaray scrape into Play-Offs
Yakin Dogu Universitesi were the top team in the Turkish League as the Regular Season concluded. They took an exciting 65-68 win at nearest challengers Hatay after 18 points and 6 assists from Courtney Vandersloot.
Ligin son maçında Hatay Büyük Şehir Belediye Spor ile karşılaşan ve deplasmandan galibiyetle ayrılan #YakınDoğuÜniversitesi , Türkiye Kadınlar Basketbol Ligi'ni lider olarak tamamladı.💪💪💪 Tebrikler #ydümelekleri 👏👏👏#ydü #kbsl pic.twitter.com/lLw4tDl7Te
— Yakin Dogu Melekleri (@YDU_Melekleri) April 14, 2018
They will play Galatasaray in the Quarter-Finals after their fellow Istanbul giants eased past Ormanspor 101-69 ahead of this week's EuroCup Women Final second leg. Allie Quigley shot the lights out again for 26 points, while Gintare Petronyte was outstanding with a monstrous 29-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Fenerbahce had to settle for third as they had little difficulty in beating bottom side Adana Aski 76-55, thanks to 11 assists from Birsel Vardarli Demirmen and 16 points from Giorgia Sottana.
Elsewhere in Europe
Sopron Basket have received a boost ahead of hosting this week's EuroLeague Women Final Four after successfully reaching the Hungarian Finals by beating CMB Cargo Uni Gyor. A terrific 20 points from Aleksandra Crvendakic sealed the deal in a 54-62 success. They will play either ZTE or reigning champions and arch rivals KSC Szekszard in the title series.
Perfumerias Avenida and Spar Citylift Girona look to be on another collision course as they both got off to positive starts in their respective Liga Femenina Semi-Finals. Avenida overwhelmed Uni Ferrol 95-56 as seven players hit double-digits, while Girona hammered Mann-Filter 87-64, with Roso Buch going 6-of-7 for her 12 points.
Finally, there was Croatian Cup joy for ZKK Medvescak as they overran ZKK Ragusa 77-50 with Iva Borovic dropping an MVP haul of 25 points.
FIBA