Canadians in Europe: December 13th - 17th

There was a lot going on in the week for Canada's European contingent, with men's and women's club competitions continuing and, in the EuroCup Women, playoffs began as the tournament takes its first step to crowning the 2022 champions. Here's a run down of all the mid-December action:

EuroCup Women

For once Aislinn Konig played a supporting role for Castors Braine - her eight points were eclipsed by fifteen off the bench by Quinn Dornstauder in their team's first playoff clash on the road to Ramla.

After a close start Castors erupted in the second quarter, doubling the output of Ramla and going on to lead by twenty points. The Belgian club's play in the paint and second chance points kept them in the driver's seat with the host team unable to respond. This dominant performance sets up Castors for a home visit from Ramla with an eleven point advantage, final score here 86 to 75 in their favour.

Michelle Plouffe proved how valuable a signing she is to Olympiacos, scoring 29 points off the bench in the Greek team's first playoff game against Enisey. Her field scoring and the team's superior three-point shooting and defence gave them the lift they needed to untangle themselves from their Russian hosts. They put the game to bed with an eleven point run in the last quarter, where they outscored Enisey by seven to give themselves a big advantage going into the second game, winning here 85-70.

Abigail Fogg almost managed a double-double for Fribourg with 11 points and 9 rebounds, while two of her team mates had twenty-point games in their match-up with Prometey. Early production in the low post saw the Swiss team build a double-digit lead, but as the opposition took a step up offence they saw that early advantage disappear. Outscored 54-30 in the second half, Fribourg now have a mountain to climb when they visit Ukraine for game two, with Prometey leading fourteen points on aggregate after winning on the road 96-82.

Euroleague Women

Hosting Hungarian club Szekszard in Lattes, BLMA routinely punished their opponents for their mistakes, scoring twenty-seven points off turnovers. Sydney Wallace meanwhile led all on the floor with 23 points, a big contributor to BLMA making half their field goal attempts. Katherine Plouffe put up seven points in a win that was all to easy for the French team, who have now won three out of their last five games with the 82-57 defeat of Szekszard.

EuroCup

Connor Morgan had a trio of three-pointers for Andorra, who had to fight back after trailing for much of the first quarter against Lietkabelis, their three-point shooters lifting the team to build a lead that reached as much as sixteen in the second half. Gediminas Orelik led Lietkabelis on the comeback trail while scoring a game-high 23 points, but despite outscoring Andorra by ten points in the final quarter, the Latvian team finished the game still trailing by five.

With fourteen points to his name, Dylan Ennis was one of four Gran Canaria players to score in double digits on the road against Buducnost Podgorica. Early three-point penetration from the visitors put them in front early on and going on to make fifty percent shot success from beyond the arc they held that advantage for the entirety of the game.

Buducnost tried to match them from the field and were able to reduce their arrears from fifteen to five, but there was not enough time to snatch the win from Gran Canaria, who now equal the Montenegrins record at the top of Group A after beating them 83-76.

Meanwhile it was a quiet night for Melvin Ejim who managed just seven points for Cedevita Olimpija who saw their early nine point lead quickly taken away from them by hosts Reyer Venezia. A lapse from the hosts and Cedevita narrowing the gap with three-pointers saw the game tied shortly after the start of the final period. Mitchell Watt responded in the low post, reasserting the Italians' dominance on their home court and consigning their visitors to the loss, 77-70.