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Taranto Takes EuroCup Opening Leg

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Bragging rights and much more are on the line as Storm centers Suzy Batkovic and Janell Burse square off with their respective teams in the EuroCup semifinals. In Thursday’s first game, Batkovic’s host Taranto squad emerged with a 76-71 victory. Because of the aggregate scoring format, the outcome itself was not necessarily as critical as the differential, with teams playing through to the end of regulation. Michelle Greco scored with two seconds on the clock to provide the final margin and give Taranto an extra bucket’s worth of breathing room going into the return leg in Moscow next Thursday.

It looked for a while like Dynamo might head home with the advantage. A Burse jumper midway through the fourth quarter gave Dynamo a four-point advantage, but Taranto would outscore the visitors 15-6 the rest of the way. The key was Greco, the former Storm guard who scored eight points in that span, adding three steals and an assist.

Burse scored 14 of her 17 points after halftime, adding nine rebounds. She was part of a trio of Dynamo players, along with Belinda Snell (23 points) and Anete Jekabsone-Zogota (15) who had strong games. The rest of the team, however, combined for 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field.

Taranto got more balanced production, with four players scoring double-figures. Megan Mahoney led the way with 19 points, with Batkovic adding 13 points, six rebounds and three steals.

In Thursday’s other semifinal opener, Kursk Dynamo triumphed 61-47 at home over Galatsaray. The two-game aggregate series will be completed next Thursday, with the winners advancing to meet each other wih the EuroCup championship – and a spot in Euroleague for the 2009-10 season – on the line.

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Storm Posts Advance

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

A day after the Euroleague Final Four was completed, the EuroCup set its semifinals Thursday, with two-game aggregate scoring quarterfinal series moving to the return leg.

Dynamo Moscow and Storm center Janell Burse returned home Thursday with a very comfortable 27-point advantage over ZKK Hemofarm Vrsac and put it on cruise control, winning 73-65. Despite the safe margin, Dynamo’s top players got essentially regular minutes. Burse played 25 minutes, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Oxana Zakalyuzhnaya earned game-high honors with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Cras Basket Taranto also held a sizeable lead going into the second leg of the series, but headed out on the road against CB Feve San Jose. The hosts ended up winning the game 63-60, but never threatened making up the entire 23-point difference from the first game as Taranto advanced 126-106 on aggregate. Suzy Batkovic led the way with 17 points, grabbing eight rebounds and adding three steals. Washington wing Shay Murphy tried in vain to lead a San Jose comeback, scoring 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Her teammates, however, combined to shoot 10 of 42 from the field (23.8 percent).

The last Storm player in the EuroCup quarters, Katie Gearlds, saw her team enter today’s game with a 25-point deficit to make up against Dynamo Kursk. Athinaikos made things interesting, leading to maybe the most dramatic 20-point victory ever. Athinaikos had a 24-point lead and the ball inside the final minute, but a turnover ended the threat. Athinaikos won the game 89-69, but lost 146-141 on aggregate. Gearlds was one of three Athinaikos players to score double-figures, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. LaToya Davis also had 26 for Athinaikos, which made a strong run after having to play in the qualifying round just to participate in EuroCup.

After a week off, the two-game semifinal series begin March 12. The two remaining teams with Storm players, Dynamo Moscow and Taranto, play in one semifinal. The other matches Dynamo Kursk with Turkish squad Galatasaray.

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New Overseas Updates

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

We ring in the new week by taking a look at the exploits of the two newest members of the Storm, Suzy Batkovic and Shannon Johnson. Batkovic has actually been mentioned recently in our overseas updates, as her Cras Basket Taranto team knocked off Tanisha Wright’s Tarbes squad in the EuroCup eighth-finals. Batkovic is a teammate of former Storm guard Michelle Greco in Italy, and Taranto crushed CB Feve San Jose in the first game of their aggregate quarterfinal series last week behind 13 points and 13 boards from Batkovic.

Taranto is also atop the league table at 15-4, having defeated Napoli Basket Vomero 56-47 yesterday. Batkovic was quiet in that game, scoring two points and grabbing three boards, but she is averaging 12.1 points and 6.3 rebounds overall for Taranto, which has been dominant after a slow start.

“We had a bit of a rough star,” Batkovic said last week. “We dropped four games in a row. Obviously new team. I came in late, some of the other players came in late after the Olympics and whatever. We hadn’t had time to gel. We pretty much got here and had to play. It was a mess to start with. I don’t think we knew how to dribble a basketball the first four games and then it sort of clicked and since then we’ve pretty much every game. It’s come along well. We’re sitting on top, so that’s always positive.”

Johnson is playing for Ibiza-PDV in Spain with her former Houston teammate Sancho Lyttle. Ibiza is 10-10 on the season after suffering an 86-74 defeat Sunday to the same San Jose team Taranto is facing in the EuroCup. Johnson, who had 19 points in the loss, is averaging 14.8 points and 2.3 assists over the course of the season.

Elsewhere, Kristen O’Neill’s game-winner was the big story over the weekend. O’Neill scored the last of her 26 points 2.9 seconds left as UL Aughnish defeated Tolka Rangers by one point Saturday. The game was the Aughnish’s regular-season finale; the team will now take on Team Montenotte Hotel Cork in the first round of the playoffs after a weekend off.

Spartak had the weekend off from Russian SuperLeague play after playing Game 2 of its Euroleague quarterfinal series Friday in Spain. Dynamo Moscow took the court earlier today, defeating Volgoda-Chevakata 93-66. Janell Burse was excellent for Dynamo, finishing with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and a game-high 15 rebounds. Along with Anete Jekabsone-Zogota (29) and Belinda Snell (28), Burse helped combine for 81 points from Dynamo’s top three scorers.

I could start using AutoText on Athinaikos’ results at this point, since every Greek A1 league game has been a victory to date (20 and counting, with six more games on the schedule if my math is correct). This weekend, it was Olympiada Larissas’ turn to play victim in a 75-63 Athinaikos win. Katie Gearlds played just 12 minutes against a lesser foe (teammate LaToya Davis did not play at all), scoring two points and grabbing two boards. Olympiada got 13 points from Daphanie Kennedy, a training-camp invitee of the Storm last spring.

Posted in batkovic, overseas, sjohnson | 1 Comment »

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