Thursday's Eurocup Game

"Secret deoderant. Strong enough for a man...."

Dynamo Kursk 78, K. V. Imperial 52: Dynamo Kursk needed this game to stay alive and hope to go to the Round of 32.

Well, they did it. The preliminary round of Eurocup is over. The 26-point win catapulted Dynamo Kursk to first place in Group H at the end of opening round play.

Dynamo Kursk: 4-2
Targoviste: 4-2
K. V. Imperial: 4-2
Samsun 0-6

With a 14-13 lead in the first quarter, Dynamo Kursk scored the next nine points and finished the quarter 23-14. By halftime, the lead was 41-22, and in front of the 1000 spectators in Kursk, Dynamo Kursk extended their lead in every quarter. They were never challenged. The only question was whether Dynamo Kursk would ever lead by 30 points at any time in the game - they didn't, but they came close.

Jillian Robbins led Dynamo Kursk with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Sandra Linkeviciene scored 19 points and Ausra Bimbaite added 12. Michelle Snow scored 9 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists in the game.

K. V. Imperial was led by Tanasha Wright with 15 points. Wright is a guard with the Seattle Storm. Neda Duric scored 10 points and Marissa Little (a graduate of North Carolina) had 4 points and 7 rebounds.

(* * *)

The win brings Dynamo Kursk to the next round of Eurocup play. Dynamo Kursk will be paired off against Besitkas in a best of two series.

What does that mean? If a team wins both games, they advance to the next round. If they split the series, then the team having the greatest margin of victory in their win advanced. In short, if Team A loses by five in the first game, they need to win by six in the second to advance.

The first game takes place at the home of the lower seeded game. Dynamo Kursk will play Besitkas in Turkey on January 7, 2010. The second game will be played in Kursk on January 14, 2010.

Kursk is scheduled to play in the Russian League against Chevatka on December 21st. However, Michelle Snow says that she'll be returning home this Sunday. I don't know if this means the end of Snow's participation in Euroball this year, but I'll try to keep you posted.