EuroLeague Eighth-Finals best-of-three matchups begin on Tuesday with Lindsay Whalen, Charde Houston, Rebekkah Brunson, Roneeka Hodges, Kelly Miller and Anna Montanana all in action for their respective teams.
Spartak Moscow Region (Kelly Miller) vs. Lotos Gydnia (Roneeka Hodges)
Game 1 - Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Vidnoje, Russia
Game 2 - Friday, Feb. 5 at Gdynia, Poland
Game 3 (if necessary) - Wednesday, Feb. 10 at Vidnoje, Russia
Shooting for its fourth consecutive EuroLeague title, Spartak Moscow and Kelly Miller will play host to Polish side Lotos Gydnia and newcomer Roneeka Hodges on Tuesday. Tuesday will be Hodges' first game with Lotos after 11 games with Tarsus of the Turkish League, where she averaged 12.6 points per contest. Spartak breezed through Qualifying Round action with a perfect, 10-0 record to finish atop Group D. Lotos barely eeked through to the Eight-Finals Round with a 3-7 record in the Qualifying Round. The two teams met twice leading up to the best-of-three Eighth-Finals matchup, with Spark winning both, a 77-70 contest in Poland back on Nov. 26 and an 85-60 decision just over a week ago on Jan. 20. Spartak features a plethora of WNBA stars on its roster, including Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles. Hodges joins Tanisha Wright and Erin Phillips as WNBA players on Lotos.
Series preview, courtesy of FibaEurope.
Cras Basket Taranto (Rebekkah Brunson) vs. Fenerbahce
Game 1 - Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Istanbul, Turkey
Game 2 - Friday, Feb. 5 at Taranto, Italy
Game 3 (if necessary) - Wednesday, Feb. 10 at Istanbul, Turkey
Lynx post Rebekkah Brunson and Italian club Cras Basketb Taranto faces off against Turkish side Fenerbahce in Game 1 of the best-of-three series on Tuesday. In 10 Qualifying Round games for Taranto, Brunson averaged 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in 29.4 minutes per game. Brunson and company went 6-4 in the Qualifying Round, including wins over Spanish power Ros Casares and Galatasaray. Taranto finished third in Group A behind UMMC Ekaterinburg (9-1) and Ros Casares (8-2). Fenerbahce enters Tuesday's contest after finishing second in Group D (7-3), behind only Spartak Moscow. Brunson, Taranto's leading scorer and rebounder in EuroLeague play, is the club's lone WNBA player. Fenerbahce boasts a roster full of WNBA talent, including Penny Taylor, Nicole Powell and Tammy Sutton-Brown.
Series preview, courtesy of FibaEurope.
Ros Casares (Anna Montanana) vs. ZVVZ USK Prague (Lindsay Whalen, Charde Houston)
Game 1 - Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Valencia, Spain
Game 2 - Friday, Feb. 5 at Prague, Czech Republic
Game 3 (if necessary) - Wednesday, Feb. 10 at Valencia, Spain
In perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the EuroLeague Eighth Finals, at least for Lynx fans, USK Prague matches up with Valencia-based Ros Casares and Lynx forward Anna Montanana. USK Prague, led by Lindsay Whalen and late addition Charde Houston, comes into Tuesday's Game 1 contest on a bit of a roll. Whalen and company captured the Czech Cup over the weekend, defeating Czech rival and fellow EuroLeague Eighth-Final competitor Frisco Sika Brno for the tournament crown. USK Prague qualified for the Eight-Finals after defeating UMC Euroleasing in the final week of Qualifying Round play, 96-93. The team finished the early round at 5-5, good for third place in Group C. Ros Casares had an easier time advancing, going 8-2 in Group A. Houston, a late addition to Czech side, had played in 10 EuroLeague contests with French club Tarbes, averaging 16.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Ros Casares' roster features Becky Hammon, DeLisha Milton-Jones, Belinda Snell and Erika De Souza, in addition to Montanana.
Series preview, courtesy of FibaEurope.
Other Eight-Final matchups:
Wisla Can-Pack vs. Mizo Pecs 2010
UMMC Ekaterinburg vs. Galatasaray
Rivas Ecopolis vs. Frisco Sika Brno
Halcon Avenida vs. Bourges Basket
Beretta-Famila vs. Good Angels Kosice
