Israel D1 11/2008 - Maccabi Ramat Hen 91, Hapoel Tel Aviv 42

Maccabi Ramat Hen (9-2) was hoping to break the logjam of 8-2 teams at the top of the Israel Women's D1 League. They're still waiting for Shay Doron, but it didn't matter - this was the first regular season game with Ivory Latta, and the opponent was short-handed (I don't know why) Hapoel Tel Aviv (2-9). They proceeded to whip up on the home team 91-42.

The box score is here.

What's to say? The high point for Tel Aviv was when they scored 13 points in the first quarter - but Ramat Hen had scored 27. If there was any thought of sportsmanship, it would have to be in the fact that 35 of Ramat Hen's points were scored off the bench.

This game reminds me of the first game that the Dream played against the Sparks in Atlanta - Ramat Hen shot 54 percent to 26 percent shooting from Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv was rebounded by 50-29 - that's a college basketball score, North Carolina vs. Podunk State. Tel Aviv only got a chance to shoot two free throws - and only hit one of them.

A further complication was the fact that Tel Aviv only had six players. Leading - and really carrying - Tel Aviv was Diamond Rogers. Rogers graduated from the University of Alabama-Birmingham in 2008 and scored 24 points, with 9 for 20 shooting, hitting five 3-point field goals and pulling down eight rebounds. However, no other Tel Aviv player broke single digits.

For Ramat Hen, there were a lot of points and minutes to spread around. Michal Epstein was the point leader with 17 points and seven rebounds. Tamara James scored 13 points for Ramat Hen. James last played for the Washington Mystics in 2007. LaToya Pringle scored 10 points, eight rebounds, and four assists for the visitors. Pringle is currently playing for the Phoenix Mercury.

How well did Ivory Latta do? She played 18 minutes, and scored 10 points and six assists, taking six shots. That's a good debut for limited minutes.

As for Shay Doron, her joining Ramat Hen has hit a snag. Her old club doesn't want to give her up and is appealing to FIBA. We'll find out two things in the future: a) the conclusion to this drama, and b) how well Israel's news supplies game pictures.