The biggest game of the first half of the Russian Superleague regular season was over early. UMMC Ekaterinburg jumped all over Spartak Moscow Region from the opening tip on Sunday, leading 26-9 after one quarter en route to an 82-53 victory. Spartak had a tough time getting anything going on offense. Reserve Elena Milovanovic scored 17 points and Epiphanny Prince added 14, but the remainder of the team shot a combined 9-of-32 (28.1 percent) from the field. Lauren Jackson was one of the players having a quiet night. Jackson played just 11 minutes, scoring one point and missing both of her attempts from the field.

On the other side, UMMC’s frontline was dominant. Maria Stepanova led the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Sandrine Gruda and Crystal Langhorne scored 16 apiece. Agneiszka Bibrzycka supplied the perimeter punch, scoring 12 of her 14 points from beyond the arc. Svetlana Abrosimova was scoreless in her 4:30 of action, but Ekaterinburg outscored Spartak by seven points during that span.

UMMC heads into the holiday break undefeated in Russian play at 9-0, while Spartak is tied with Nadezhda for second at 7-2. Spartak will hope to make a run in 2011 with Sue Bird in the lineup.

Ros Casares Valencia went into the break on a high note, blowing out Hondarribia-Irun 93-50. Jana Vesela, who scored 10 points, was one of six Ros Casares players in double-figures. Katie Douglas led the team by scoring 17 points. Hondarribia-Irun shot 36 percent from the field and turned the ball over 24 times. The big story in the Liga Feminina was Rivas Ecopolis knocking off Halcon Avenida, which means Ros Casares (12-1) moves into a tie with Avenida for first in the standings at the midway point.

Swin Cash’s DongGuan New Century Club team got another win on Saturday to move to 5-0 this season in WCBA play. Check out SwinCash.com for more on Cash’s performance.

Playing at home, the Canberra TransAct Capitals saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of the Townsville Fire on Friday by a 77-70 final. A mammoth outing by Marianna Tolo (29 points and 16 boards) was not enough. Guards Rachel Alexander and Rachael Flanagan scored 19 points apiece for Townsville, which led the entire fourth quarter. Alison Lacey had two points and two assists for Canberra.

The Dandeong Jayco Rangers continue to struggle. On Saturday, they suffered their third consecutive loss, falling 77-67 to the Sydney University Flames. Abby Bishop had four points, five rebounds and three assists for Dandenong, while Ashley Robinson scored six points. Natalie Stafford came up with a huge effort for Sydney, which outscored Dandenong 45-26 after halftime. Stafford scored a game-high 26 points.

Today’s round of Euroleague matchups was the last before the schedule takes a three-week break for the holidays. Spartak Moscow Region went into the break in style, dominating ZVVZ USK Praha 85-54 at home. Spartak pulled away during the third quarter, extending its lead from 10 to 23, and outscored Praha 48-27 after the break. Playing against rival DeLisha Milton-Jones, Lauren Jackson scored 14 points in 20 minutes on 4-of-7 shooting. Epiphanny Prince scored 18 points for Spartak, while Anete Jekabsone-Zogota scored 15 and Irina Osipova finished with 14 points and seven boards.

With two games left to play, Spartak controls its own destiny in terms of finishing atop Group C. By the time Euroleague play resumes on Jan. 13, Spartak will have Sue Bird back in the lineup.

Meanwhile, Ros Casares Valencia assumed sole possession of first place in Group D with a 65-51 win over Beretta-Famila Schio on Wednesday. Rebekkah Brunson, who posted a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds, controlled the inside while Katie Douglas poured in 18 points from the perimeter. Brunson outplayed counterpart Janel McCarville, who finished with two points on 1-of-5 shooting as Schio struggled to score. The visitors shot 35.4 percent from the field and turned the ball over 22 times. Jana Vesela had three points off the bench for Ros Casares.

Swin Cash is keeping fans up to date on all her exploits over in China via SwinCash.com. Tuesday’s win moved DongGuan New Century Club into first place in the WCBA at 4-0. Cash is averaging 13.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game thus far.

In domestic play, Spartak narrowly pulled out a 59-54 win over Dynamo Moscow on Sunday. Jackson had 13 points and seven boards in the defensive struggle. Her late three-pointer was the last basket for Spartak, which held on at the free throw line. Prince, who scored 15, was the only other Spartak player to reach double-figure scoring.

Down under, the Canberra TransAct Capitals romped past the Australian Institute of Sport 96-56 without Alison Lacey. Jessica Bibby was on fire for the Caps, knocking down nine three-pointers in 15 attempts en route to 38 points. Carly Wilson added 18 points in 20 minutes. On Saturday, the visiting West Coast Waves knocked off the Dandenong Jayco Rangers 77-72. Samantha Norwood, who scored a game-high 24 points, made the go-ahead bucket with 43 seconds left and Abby Bishop missed a triple with 16 seconds left that could have tied the game. It was a long night for Bishop, who fouled out with 10 points and seven rebounds and shot 4-of-17 from the field. Ashley Robinson had two rebounds.

A typically workmanlike victory for Ros Casares Valencia, which topped Soller Bon Dia! 81-54 on Saturday. Six Ros Casares players scored at least eight points, led by 16 from Marta Fernandez. Nuria Martinez contributed 12 points and seven assists. Vesela had four points and five rebounds. Shay Murphy scored 28 of Soller’s 54 points.

In Israel, Elizur Ramla got an easy 111-62 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv on Monday. Hapoel is playing with just five players, a situation that led Head Coach Barak Glozer to quit at game’s end. Tanisha Wright scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Le’coe Willingham had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Camille Little had a double-double of her own (17 points, 12 boards) as Electra Ramat Hasharon defeated Elizur Rishon 85-69. Alexis Hornbuckle added 13 points and 13 rebounds.

One of Spartak Moscow Region’s best performances of the season came in their Euroleague victory over Galatasaray in Vidnoje, when they held the Turkish club’s stars (Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles) in check defensively. Wednesday was the return game, as Spartak visited Istanbul, and Augustus and Fowles were ready. The result was tight basketball for 45 minutes before Galatasaray finally emerged with the 85-83 victory in overtime.

It was Lauren Jackson who preserved the tie by blocking a Galatasaray attempt just before the regulation buzzer.  She then made a three-pointer with four seconds left in OT to give Spartak a chance to tie or take the lead after former Storm guard Doneeka Hodges split two free throws. But there was too little time left and Epiphanny Prince turned the ball over before Spartak could get off a final attempt. Jackson scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots. She made four three-pointers. Prince added 17, but Galatasaray had three high scorers. Augustus, Fowles and Hodges – all of whom played at LSU under Spartak Head Coach Pokey Chatman – combined for 58 points and made 22 of their 43 shot attempts.

In Group D, Bourges Basket used home-court advantage to knock off Ros Casares Valencia 58-55 for Ros Casares’ second consecutive loss after a 5-0 start. Edwige Lawson – another of those former Storm backup point guards – put Ros Casares ahead with a three-pointer with 2:14 to play. However, Ros Casares would not score again. Back-to-back Endene Miyem scores gave Bourges the lead for good. Miyem led her team with 14 points. Lawson and Rebekkah Brunson had 15 apiece for Ros Casares, which is now tied for the group lead with Bourges. Jana Vesela contributed four points and three rebounds.