While the outcome wasn’t necessarily surprising, the fashion was. With a 73-67 home victory in Game 3, UMMC Ekaterinburg swept Spartak Moscow Region in the Russian Superleague Finals to repeat as Russian champions. Spartak got off to a slow start in the back-to-back, trailing by 11 after a quarter and 15 at the half, but rallied to actually take a three-point lead during the fourth quarter. Ekaterinburg answered with an 8-0 run to reclaim command, and Spartak’s hopes were dashed when Diana Taurasi was called for a charge with 24 seconds left and Cappie Pondexter followed with two free throws.

Candace Parker put together another phenomenal all-around game, scoring 25 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and handing out five assists. Pondexter (12) and Sandrine Gruda and Deanna Nolan (11 apiece) joined Parker in double-figure scoring for Ekaterinburg. Svetlana Abrosimova had two points and two boards in 20 minutes of action off the bench.

Taurasi, who fouled out on the late charge, was again unable to duplicate her Euroleague Final Four heroics. Taurasi knocked down four three-pointers, but needed 17 shots to score her 17 points. Sylvia Fowles had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Spartak, and Sue Bird contributed 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and a pair of assists.

This is the second consecutive year that Spartak and Ekaterinburg have split the two biggest prizes available to them, with Spartak winning the Euroleague and Ekaterinburg the Russian crown. Previously, Spartak had won back-to-back Russian titles.

The good news of the series ending in a sweep is it means Abrosimova and Bird are headed to Seattle. We should find out more about their timetable for arriving at practice on Friday.