The finals are set in Israel, with Storm players on both sides of the matchup. After struggling to beat Raanana Hertzeliya in the opening round, Ashley Robinson and Maccabi Ashdod had no such difficulty in sweeping Camille Little and Electra Ramat Hasharon in one semifinal. On the other side of the bracket, Le’coe Willingham and Tanisha Wright led Elitzur Ramla to a second straight sweep, this one over Maccabi Ramat Hen.

Fresh off a EuroCup title, Ramla will be the heavy favorite, but Ashdod comes in hot. Robinson has been a big part of the team’s success, combining for 21 points and 10 rebounds in the first two games of the semifinal series.

The Polish PLKK playoffs are in the semifinals, where Wisla Can-Pak Krakow is a win away from advancing. Wisla took the first two games of the series against Lotos Gdynia and goes for the sweep tomorrow. Erin Phillips had 11 points, six rebounds and two assists in Sunday’s 63-57 Game 2 victory.

The Russian SuperLeague playoffs kicked off Monday with Sparta&K Moscow Region getting a scare from Dynamo-GUVD in Game 1 of their quarterfinal series. Epiphanny Prince gave Sparta&K the lead for good by knocking down back-to-back three-pointers after the game was tied with two and a half minutes left, and Sparta&K hung on for the 77-73 triumph. Sparta&K was just fine on offense in the game, getting 26 points from Prince and 11 points and six assists from Sue Bird. Anya Dabovich had 19 points to lead a Dynamo offense that was nearly as potent.

Wednesday was the penultimate round of the Spanish Liga Feminina regular season, which wraps up over the weekend. Halcon Avenida topped Gran Canaria 79-64 behind a combined 35 points and 17 rebounds from their frontline of Erika De Souza and Sancho Lyttle. Belinda Snell knocked down a pair of three-pointers and finished with eight points. Storm newcomer Aneika Henry and Mann Filter Zaragoza suffered a 65-56 loss to Obenasa Lacturale. Henry was saddled with foul trouble, scoring seven points and grabbing five rebounds in just 13 minutes of action. Kaayla Chones, who had a cup of coffee with the Storm, led Obenasa with 18 points.

Maccabi Ashdod is moving on in style. With Storm center Ashley Robinson in the starting lineup and contributing 10 points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals, Ashdod swamped Raanana Hertzeliya 81-55 in last Wednesday’s deciding Game 5 of their quarterfinal series. Ashdod also got 22 points from Renee Montgomery and 17 points and seven rebounds from Katia Levitsky. Ashdod will now take on Electra Ramat Hasharon and Camille Little in one of the two semifinal matchups. In the other, Le’coe Willingham, Tanisha Wright and Elitzur Ramla face Maccabi Ramat Hen.

Ramla has been busy in the EuroCup finals. The first leg of the two-game aggregate series with Arras was played last Thursday in Israel, with Ramla battling back from a deficit as large as 12 points in the final quarter to tie the game at 61 apiece. That makes next Thursday’s return leg in France a true winner-take-all matchup. Just to tie the game, Ramla needed a late 12-3 run that evened the score with 21 seconds left on the clock. After two Pauline Akonga free throws put Arras back in front, Willingham closed the scoring with a layup with seven seconds remaining. The Storm post scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting and added seven rebounds. Wright, the team’s other double-digit scorer, finished with 17 points and 12 boards. Oleshia Malashenko had 18 points for Arras, which saw point guard Leilani Mitchell shoot 1-of-7 from the field and turn the ball over four times but also offer seven rebounds, five assists and five steals.

As expected, Wisla Can-Pack Krakow had no trouble with Pol Super Rainbow in the quarterfinals, sweeping the series 2-0 with both wins by at least 18 points. Erin Phillips went off for 22 points as Wisla won Game 2 on the road and totaled 29 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in the two games. The matchups get more difficult for Wisla during the best-of-five semifinals, which begin with a back-to-back in Krakow on Saturday and Sunday. Wisla will face Lotos Gdynia, which is led by Monica Wright of the Minnesota Lynx.

The Russian Superleague regular season ended with a showdown between Sparta&K Moscow Region and UMMC Ekaterinburg. Playing at home, Ekaterinburg led the entire final quarter in a 73-69 win that looks a little closer than it was because Sue Bird hit a three at the buzzer to cut the deficit to four far too late. Bird had 12 points and three assists as one of four Sparta&K players to score double-figures. But Sparta&K did not have anyone as dominant as Candace Parker, who scored 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds.

Regardless of the result, UMMC was headed to the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, with Sparta&K No. 2. Ekaterinburg faces Spartak St. Petersburg in the quarterfinals, which begin next Monday, with Sparta&K facing Novosibirsk.

Via Twitter, Swin Cash reports that her team is a win away from advancing after today’s 83-73 victory behind her 29 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.

The regular season is still going strong in Spain, where Halcon Avenida defeated RC Celta Indepo 88-68 on Sunday. Erika De Souza had 16 points and 12 rebounds and nine players scored at least six points for Avenida. Included was Belinda Snell, who finished with nine points and three rebounds. Ros Casares Valencia had no trouble with Cadi La Seu in an 82-48 final. Katie Douglas had a team-high 17 points and Cindy Lima added 14 and nine boards, while Jana Vesela scored seven points and came up with three steals.

The Bulleen Boomers made history in Sunday’s WNBL Grand Final, winning their first league championship ever by knocking off the two-time defending champion Canberra Capitals 103-78 in Melbourne. In a matchup of the league’s top two teams all year long and a rematch of the major semifinal, Bulleen got off to a quick start. An 8-0 run midway through the first quarter helped run the Boomers’ advantage to double-figures. It reached 20 points early in the second quarter and never got any closer from there as Bulleen led by as many as 30 points.

The Boomers won easily despite foul trouble for their star, Liz Cambage. Cambage played just 21 minutes, but scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in that span. When Cambage was on the bench, Sharin Miller (27 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting and five assists) and Elyse Penaluna (18 points, 14 rebounds) more than covered her absence. Bulleen had five players score double-digits.

On the other side, poor shooting doomed the Capitals. They made just 32.4 percent of their first-half attempts and finished the game with one three-pointer in 16 attempts. Suzy Batkovic scored 28 points and grabbed six rebounds and Canberra also got 19 points and nine boards from Michelle Cosier, but the duo did not get enough offensive support. Alison Lacey finished with seven points and three rebounds but was unable to connect from downtown in four attempts.

In Israel, the playoffs are not moving so quickly. While three of the four quarterfinal series wrapped up on Feb. 28, the last is still going after Ranaana Hertzeliya defeated Maccabi Ashdod last Monday to force a deciding Game 5, to be played on Thursday. Ashley Robinson had six rebounds, two points and a block in the loss coming off the bench. Renee Montgomery scored 19 points for Ashdod and Jene Morris led Hertzeliya by scoring 16.

A surprising result in a showdown of Spain’s top two teams, as Belinda Snell and Halcon Avenida dominated Jana Vesela and Ros Casares Valencia, winning 82-59 on Sunday. Avenida was outstanding at both ends, forcing 21 turnovers and shooting an even 50.0 percent from the field. Four Avenida players scored double-figures while Snell had nine points, all from beyond the arc. Katie Douglas (18) and Nicky Anosike (15 and 10 rebounds) provided almost all the scoring for Valencia, which was without forward Rebekkah Brunson. Vesela scored six points.

Sparta&K Moscow Region played a pair of games over the weekend to make up for its Euroleague schedule. On Saturday, Sparta&K took down Kursk Dynamo 72-54 with a strong defensive effort that held Kursk to 31.1 percent shooting. Imports Temeka Johnson and Michelle Snow combined for 14 points and shot 5-of-20 from the field. Sue Bird scored 15 points for Sparta&K, making a trio of three-pointers. Earlier today, Sparta&K defeated Spartak St. Petersburg 105-55. Next weekend is the last of the regular season in Russia.

In Saturday’s regular-season finale, Wisla Can-Pak Krakow beat Widzew Lodz 69-56 behind 19 points from Katarzyna Krezel and 12 from Nicole Powell. At 22-2, Wisla finished atop the league table and will host Super Pol Tecza in the quarterfinals beginning on Wednesday.

Elitzur Ramla lost last Thursday, but still won. Needing only to keep the final margin within 15 points to lay claim to an  aggregate series victory over Athinaikos, Ramla ended up celebrating an 88-81 loss in Athens. The 15-point margin was never in much doubt as the game was close until the final minutes, when Athinaikos led by as many as nine points, but with just 12 seconds left to play.

Tanisha Wright had 19 points and five assists for Ramla, while Le’coe Willingham scored 18 points and grabbed five boards. The two players combined to make 17 of their 27 field-goal attempts. Shay Doron scored 20 more points and Rivi Grinboym came off the bench for an unexpected 20 of her own, making six three-pointers in seven attempts. The four players had 77 of Ramla’s 81 points.

Ramla advances to the finals of the EuroCup for the first time in club history. In 2008, Ramla lost in the semifinals. To win the EuroCup, Ramla will now have to defeat French side Arras, which knocked off Chevakata in the other semi, a much closer contest. Following a one-point win in the first leg, Arras advanced by tying the second game 67-67 on Johanne Gomis‘ late jumper. Arras’ lone American is Leilani Mitchell, the New York Liberty point guard who is a native of Richland, Wash. Post Pauline Akonga, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, tops Arras in both scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.6 rpg).

The series begins next Thursday, March 17, in Israel with the second leg the following Thursday, March 24, in France.

As for the Euroleague Final Four, we now know where it will be held – Ekaterinburg, Russia from April 8-10.

The Grand Final matchup is also set in Australia’s WNBL, where the Canberra Capitals earned a rematch against the Bulleen Boomers by defeating the feisty Bendigo Spirit 83-78 in Saturday’s Preliminary Final. Canberra led by 10 with two minutes to play before Bendigo used a 6-0 spurt to cut the deficit to four with 45 seconds left on the clock. The comeback effort fell short, however, and the Capitals advanced behind three 20-point scorers (Jessica Bibby, Marianna Tolo and Carly Wilson, who scored 21). Alison Lacey added 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Kristi Harrower scored 26 points for the Spirit but needed 28 shots to get there and missed a key late attempt. Bulleen, which beat Canberra in the major semifinal a week ago, will host Sunday’s Grand Final hoping for the first league championship in club history. The Capitals have the major edge in terms of history, having won four of the last five titles and two in a row, but the Boomers have been the league’s strongest team this year behind star center Elizabeth Cambage.

The Euroleague teams are finally back in action in their domestic leagues. In Spain, Halcon Avenida blew out Extrugasa 73-46 while Ros Casares Valencia had a tougher time in a 74-67 win over Girona FC. Erika de Souza had 16 points and six rebounds for Avenida, which opened up its rotation, while Belinda Snell handed out a pair of assists in nine minutes. Girona got out to an early 24-17 lead before Ros Casares regained the upper hand after halftime. Jana Vesela contributed a balanced line of four points, five rebounds and four assists and Katie Douglas paced Ros Casares with 18 points and six rebounds.

Over in Russia, Sparta&K delivered a lopsided 81-42 victory over Dynamo-GUVD. The game got out of hand after halftime, when Sparta&K held a remarkable 38-8 advantage. Sue Bird scored about as much as you’ll see her do for Sparta&K, putting up 18 points in 26 minutes thanks to 4-of-6 shooting beyond the arc. Ilona Korstin had 10 points and seven rebounds. UMMC Ekaterinburg went to the final quarter trailing Dynamo Kursk by eight points only to win going away thanks to a 27-9 margin in the fourth. Ekaterinburg got 20 points and seven rebounds from Candace Parker. Svetlana Abrosimova scored two points and handed out a pair of assists.

In the Polish PLKK, last weekend was devoted to the Polish Cup. Wisla Can-Pack Krakow was unexpectedly knocked out in the semifinals by Torun Energa, 67-64. A huge effort by Vera Perostiyska, who scored 27 points on 13-of-17 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds, helped do in Wisla. Erin Phillips had 12 points, three rebounds and three assists. Lotos Gdynia went on to defeat Torun and defend their Polish Cup title.