After an unexpected one-point home loss last week, Dynamo Moscow made the long trip to France for Thursday’s return leg against Tarbes GB needing to pull out a road win to advance to the EuroCup quarterfinals. Inspired by the addition of Svetlana Abrosimova to the roster, Dynamo got it, beating Tarbes 88-80 to claim the two-game aggregate series by a 142-135 total.

Abrosimova had five points and five rebounds while teammate Crystal Langhorne exploded for 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting as well as 10 reobunds. Irina Sokolovskaya added 21 points and three other players reached double figures for Dynamo, which advances to face another French side (BLMA) in the quarterfinals, which will be played on Jan. 17 and 24.

While Dynamo is through, the other Storm player in the EuroCup was eliminated. Shekinna Stricklen and Homend Antakya got off to an excellent start with a 79-61 win at home, but that margin wasn’t enough to withstand a 73-46 blowout loss Thursday to Chevakata in Russia. Stricklen led her team with 18 points but was held to 7-of-18 shooting with five turnovers. Former Tennessee teammate Glory Johnson did not go easy on Stricklen’s club, pacing Chevakata with 21 points and 12 boards.

A week after UMMC Ekaterinburg pulled out a 71-70 road win over Galtasaray in a clash of undefeated Group C powers with Storm players on their rosters, Ekaterinburg (6-0) had the week off from EuroLeague action. That allowed Galta to pull even in the win category at 6-1 with a 77-50 blowout of Novi Zagreb.

Ann Wauters played just 21 minutes as her team cruised, scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds. Sancho Lyttle’s double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds paced four players in double figures.

After joining her new Russian team at the start of December, Svetlana Abrosimova saw her first action for Dynamo Moscow (5-2) in Sunday’s 88-68 win over Nadezhda. Abrosimova started and had six points, five rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes. She complemented Dynamo’s high-scoring trio of Crystal Langhorne (22 points), Nadezhda Grishaeva (17) and Kristi Toliver (16). Next, Dynamo will try to come from behind in a two-game aggregate Eighth-Final series in the EuroCup after falling 55-54 to Tarbes at home. Dynamo can still advance with a win on Thursday, but must do so in France.

Elsewhere in Russia, undefeated UMMC Ekaterinburg (7-0) got a surprisingly tough test from Dinamo Kursk before winning 77-66 despite Epiphanny Prince’s 35 points in the losing effort. Diana Taurasi led the way with 22 points for Ekaterinburg, which got a nice run from Ewelina Kobryn off the bench. Kobryn had four points and five rebounds in just 13 minutes.

AUSTRALIA

Rough weekend for the Canberra Capitals, who were swamped 96-50 by Sydney Uni on Friday to slip to 5-7 without Lauren Jackson. April Sykes of the L.A. Sparks led the rout with 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting, featuring three triples. Brigette Ardossi, with 21 points and nine rebounds, was the only Caps player to score double digits.

CHINA

While the WCBA’s attention was on the anticipated first showdown between Liz Cambage and Maya Moore, Camille Little helped Shanghai above .500 (7-6) with Saturday’s 79-63 win over Bayi. Little had 18 points and nine rebounds, drawing nine fouls. Moore (53) and Cambage (49) combined for more than 100 points, but Cambage’s team got the win to move within a game of first place.

ISRAEL

Herbalife Ramat Hasharon crushed Elizur Holzon 108-64 on Monday to improve to 3-2. Alysha Clark had 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers, and added five rebounds. Alexis Gray-Lawson paced Hasharon with 26 points as five players reached double-figures in the lopsided win.

KOREA

Behind 22 points and 10 rebounds from Tina Thompson, Woori Hansae rolled to a 67-51 win over Bichumi on Sunday, bouncing back from a loss to KB Stars on Thursday and staying on top of the WKBL standings at 13-4.

TURKEY

Galatasaray (7-1) keeps on rolling. On Saturday, Gala dispatched of Canik Belediye by a 71-56 final. Ann Wauters finished with 12 points and four rebounds, taking a bit of a step back on offense with the return of Sylvia Fowles (10 points, six boards) from a leg injury. A balanced Galatasaray attack featured five double-figure scorers, including Sancho Lyttle (14 points, 12 rebounds).

Homend Antakya fell to 3-5 with a tough 82-76 loss to Kayseri Kaski. Shekinna Stricklen scored 19 points in defeat. Antakya still has a good opportunity to advance in EuroCup play after toppling Chevakata 79-61 at home in last week’s first leg of the two-game aggregate series.

The Israeli D-I Finals are headed to a decisive fifth game on Thursday after Elizur Ramla and Maccabi Ashdod split the first four games of the series.

Ramla took a 2-1 lead on the road last Thursday, thanks to the heroics of Tanisha Wright in a 60-58 victory. Wright had 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Desperate to stop her, Ashdod went into a box-and-one defense that contained her and led to a 9-0 run to get within one in the closing seconds. But Ramla was able to come up with a stop and Wright split two free throws, intentionally missing the second, to produce the final margin.

Ashdod stayed alive yesterday, coming up with a 67-57 win in Ramla. This time, the Ashdod defense shut down Wright, who had six points and attempted just seven shots, handing out five assists. Without her as a lead scorer, Ramla had just one player (Alana Beard, with 23) in double-figures and shot 33.3 percent from the field. Behind 25 points and 16 boards from Plenette Pierson, Ashdod pulled away in the fourth quarter.

So the teams will play for the league title Thursday in Ashdod, with WNBA players on both sides heading back to the U.S. shortly thereafter.

The action is over in Poland, where MVP Ewelina Kobryn led Wisla Can-Pack Krakow to a four-game finals sweep over CCC Polkowice. In fact, Wisla went undefeated during the postseason, finishing 9-0. Kobryn had 16 points and nine rebounds during Krakow’s narrowest victory, 59-58 in Saturday’s Game 3. She then had six points and six boards as Wisla closed out the series with a 56-50 win on Sunday in Game 4. For the series, Kobryn averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.

Congratulations to Silvia Dominguez, Lauren Jackson, Ann Wauters, Jana Vesela and their teammates. With today’s 86-68 win over Halcon Avenida in Salamanca, Ros Casares Valencia has been crowned Spanish Liga Femenina champions, sweeping through the playoffs after going 26-0 during the regular season. This is Ros Casares’ fifth Spanish title in the last six years after Avenida interrupted a string of four consecutive by winning last year. Valencia also completed the prestigious double that started earlier this month with a EuroLeague championship.

In the deciding game, Wauters had 13 points and seven rebounds. Maya Moore led Ros Casares by scoring 20 points, while Shay Murphy added 12 and Jackson was one of three players to score nine points. Dominguez had seven points and five assists. Valencia’s balanced production was in stark contrast to Avenida, which got 41 points and 22 boards from stars DeWanna Bonner and Erika de Souza but saw the rest of the team combine for just 27 points.

UMMC Ekaterinburg opened up a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Russian Finals with an 80-73 victory in today’s Game 2. Candace Parker had another big effort with 24 points and 15 rebounds and Sandrine Gruda also scored 20 points for Ekaterinburg. Sue Bird chipped in eight points and five assists. Candice Dupree had 24 points and Becky Hammon 15 for Sparta&K Moscow Region, which will try to avoid the sweep during Game 3 Friday in Vidnoe.

On Monday in Israel, Tanisha Wright and Elizur Ramla evened the Israeli D-I Finals at one game apiece with a 68-60 win over Maccabi Ashdod. Wright’s 15 points were tied with Alana Beard for game-high honors in the defensive affair. Wright added five assists. Le’coe Willingham scored 11 points for Ramla. Plenette Pierson and Ashley Shields paced Ashdod with 13 apiece. The series returns to Ashdod for Thursday’s Game 3.

It took the full 40 minutes, but Ros Casares Valencia held home court in Game 1 of the best-of-three Spanish Liga Femenina Finals, beating Halcon Avenida 74-72. Lauren Jackson, who scored a game-high 19 points, knocked down the clinching free throws with seconds remaining as Ros Casares held off a comeback attempt by the visitors in the final quarter. Jackson added six rebounds and shot 6-of-10 from the field in one of her best performances for Valencia. Ann Wauters was quiet offensively, scoring six points, but pulled down 10 rebounds as Ros Casares held Avenida to just three second chances. Silvia Dominguez had six points and two assists, while Sancho Lyttle scored 12 points and Shay Murphy 11.

Ros Casares will go for the sweep Tuesday in Salamanca.

UMMC Ekaterinburg tipped off the Russian Premier League Finals today with an impressive 80-65 triumph over Sparta&K Moscow Region. Candace Parker dominated opposing number Candice Dupree with 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting and eight rebounds. Sue Bird scored 15 points and handed out five assists, while Sandrine Gruda had 11 points and 11 boards for a double-double. Seimone Augustus (19) and Marina Kuzina (16) contributed more than half of Sparta&K’s scoring.

Game 2 is tomorrow, also in Ekaterinburg.

In Poland, Wisla Can-Pack Krakow holds an early 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Playing at home, Wisla took Game 1 73-59 behind balanced scoring, with eight players scoring at least five points. Ewelina Kobryn’s game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds led Wisla’s 72-60 Game 2 victory. Kobryn had eight points and four rebounds in 14 minutes of Game 1. CCC Polkowice will host the next two games Friday and Saturday.

Tanisha Wright and Elizur Ramla suffered a heartbreaking 58-56 loss in last week’s Game 1 against Maccabi Ashdod. Up 56-54 with 90 seconds to play, Ramla saw Ashdod tie the game on a bucket and win it on free throws by Plenette Pierson and Tamera Young, who combined for 33 points and 21 boards. Wright led Ramla with 13 points, but committed seven turnovers. Le’coe Willingham had 12 points and nine rebounds.