Our Belgian Ladies Abroad - Evelien Callens is back on the court

Ann Wauters and her teammates are back on the winning track in the Euroleague competition. With a 59-70 victory wednesday in Mondeville, Galatasaray stabilized its position in group C and has now a four point advantage to their closest follower CCC Polkowice. Ekatarinburg, the undefeated leader of the competition, however still has a two game advantage on them. The American guard Lindsay Whalen once again was the key player for Galatasaray. Considerably helped by Alba Torrens (12 points, 2 steals), Whalen was topscorer of the game with 21 points and managed to dish out 4 assists. But also the Turkish point guard Isil Alben stepped up and helped her team with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Also the Belgian star Ann Wauters performed decently with 8 points, 4 rebounds in 23 minutes. After stunning Fenerbahce in the cup final, Gala had an easier opponent the past weekend in the regular competition. They did not leave Tarsus any chance and won by 79-57 at home. Although Tarsus has some well-known players on its roster with Shay Doron (10 points, 5 assists), Delisha Milton-Jones (12 points, 4 rebounds) and Melisa Can (11 points, 13 rebounds), they lost every single quarter against Gala. For Galatasaray Ann Wauters grabbed 9 rebounds and scored 16 points (8/14), Sancho Lyttle had an impressive double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Whalen had 16 points and 8 assists. Gala trails by Fenerbahce with two games and has one game advantage over Kayseri in the Turkish league.

Wisla Can Pack and Anke de Mondt were off in this week’s round of the Euroleague. Their next opponent will be no other than Spartak Moscou with Candice Dupree, Isabelle Yacoubou, Nika Baric, Seimone Augustus and Becky Hammon. Since Wisla won the first encounter with 64-76, they should not be too impressed by all those star players and their reputation. It’s that kind of game every (pro) player is looking forward to. In the Polish competition Wisla faced Artego yesterday and lost this crucial game. Artego and Polkowice now share together the first place with a 12-1 record while Wisla is trailing behind with two victories short. With only a meager 31% shooting success rate, Wisla could not prevent the 49-65 defeat against an Artego team with four players in double figures. Although Tina Charles was again good for 12 points and 13 rebounds, she received too little help from her teammates. Dora Horti also stepped up with 10 points and 9 rebounds and Anke de Mondt still had 8 points and 4 rebounds in 34 minutes, but it was not enough in the end.

Whereas Familia Schio, a week ago, was still in seventh heaven, they got pulled back down to earth by the team least expected to do so in the current Euroleague competition. The change on the coaching spot (Marc Silvert replaced the Belgian coach Thibault Petit) seems to bear fruit for Arras, since they could celebrate their first victory in the competition against one of the title favorites in the league, Kathy Wambe’s Familia Schio (69-57). A field goal percentage of only 29% was not enough to stop the more successful team from northern France (46% FG). Familia Schio did not lose because of Jantel Lavender who once again proved her skills with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Also Danielle McCray (16 points) and Elodie Godin (15 rebounds) still played somehow decent, but it proved to be insufficient. Kathy Wambe had 2 points and 6 rebounds in 29 minutes of playing time. On the other side, Olesia Malashenko, well-known in Belgium, had 16 points and 7 rebounds, Dawn Evans had 12 points and 5 assists and most and for all Sandra Dijon impressed with 14 points and 15 rebounds. With this loss for Familia Schio, the quest for the top spot in group B is heavily contested again. Familia Schio has a 7-3 record wheras Kosice and Fenerbahce both have a record of 7-2. In the regular Italian competition, Familia Schio was off the past weekend.

Villeneuve d’Ascq and Emma Meesseman continue their winning streak. By winning in Aix-en-Provence with 79-86, they increase their streak to three victories in a row and also moved up one place in standings to position 11 with an overall 6-10 record. It was a heavily contested game during which not less than 10 (!!!) players scored in double figures. Emma Meesseman was topscorer of the game with 20 points and 4 rebounds and 2 steals in 23 minutes. In her effort she was helped tremendously by her teammates. Lenae Williams scored also 20 points, Olayinka Sanni grabbed 9 rebounds and scored 12 points, Bintou Dieme was good for 16 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds and also Jennifer Digbeu chipped in 10 points. Villeneuve needs to repeat this kind of team effort in the upcoming games if they want to extend their winning streak, especially in next week’s game against the French current leader Lattes Montpellier.

Good news also come from the Czech Republic. Evelien Callens is back on the court with her team VS Praha. In her first game back, VS Praha won against Lokomotiva with 73-66 and Evelien contributed 3 points and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes to the victory. VS Praha moves up one spot in the ranking and is now on the 5th place with a 9-8 ranking. VS Praha’s race in the Eurocup competition is already over a while ago. They were unable to make it past the 16th final, where Dynamo Kursk proved to be too strong for them. As a remark it is to be noted that Romina Ciappina’s former team Hainaut made it to the elite eight in the Eurocup.

Caja Rural Zamarat and Kim Mestdagh were not without a chance, but still came short against the undefeated leader of the Spanish competition Rivas Ecopolis with 66-71. Kim was in the starting five and scored three points and secured 6 rebounds in 23 minutes. For Zamarat the following players impressed: Amy Denson (16 points, 7 rebounds), Taru Tuukanen (13 points, 3 rebounds), Mariona Ortiz (13 points) and the Finnish guard Dionne Pounds (11 points). On the other side on the court however well established players like Aneika Henry (16 points, 13 rebounds) and the Spanish forces Queralt Casas (19 points, 5 rebounds), Anna Cruz (12 points, 3 rebounds) and Laura Nicholls (10 points, 3 rebounds)were too clever in the end and won the game in crunch time.

Hanne Mestdagh ’s team the Colorado State Rams have lost their two last games during a tournament in New York. Against Fordham they lost after double overtime with 64-59 and against Providence they lost with 71-53. In their Mountain West conference they have a 1-1 record so far and will compete next against the University of Las Vegas Nevada.

Caroline Bourlioux (Lindenwood University) has had a busy past week with her team. Unfortunately however she could only celebrate one victory in two games. She won against the University of Central Oklahoma with 81-77 but fell short against Missouri Western State (59-65). Caroline contributed with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals to the first conference victory of her team. Her 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists against Missouri Western State were not enough though to prevent her team’s fifth conference defeat.

Hatty Bende Nawezhi gets again more experience on the court although her team is still struggling. Limoges lost its second consecutive game against third ranked Pleyber Christ LTB 29 with 71-59. Hatti played during 23 minutes and scored 2 points. Limoges still remains second to last in Ligue 2 with only one victory in 12 games.

Elodie Lemmer and her team Racing Luxembourg still have to wait for their first victory in the Luxembourgish Total League. Elodie scored 15 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in the last game but even Kayla Tetschlag’s additional triple double with 22 points, 10 steals and 17 rebounds did not help to win against the team Sparta Bertrange (65-77). Sparta Bertrange and former Ieper player Latoya Drake (21 points, 17 rebounds) simply had the deeper rotation.