LFB (France) 15/2008 - Union Hainaut 52, Challes-les-Eaux 49

With a month off looming ahead, Union Hainaut (9-6) must have been hoping for a Villeneuve d'Ascq loss and a chance to move into fourth place in the Ligue Féminine. Despite the fact that they beat visiting Challes-Les-Eaux (10-5) by a score of 52-49, Union Hainaut certainly thought that they'd be at the top of the French League instead of sitting in fifth place and being flushed out of Euroleague play.

The box score is here. Union Hainaut puts an end to a five-game losing streak stretching over French League and Euroleague play.

It was either a defensive struggle for both teams or an offensive mess. At halftime, the score was only 24-19 in favor of Union Hainaut. Challes-les-Eaux was only able to score six second-quarter points. At one point, Union Hainaut led 34-22, but Challes-les-Eaux staged a comeback in the third quarter with an 11-0 run and Union Hainaut's lead was cut to one point, 38-37 at the end of the third quarter.

According to Women's Basketball in France, Emilie Duvivier of Challes-les-Eaux hit a shot to put the visitors in the lead. It didn't last long, however, as Union Hainaut went on a 7-0 run to go up 50-43. Somehow, Union Hainaut managed to hang on for the victory as they would only score with two more points for the rest of the game.

Shooting wasn't good on either side - Union Hainaut only shot 35 percent from the field, but Challes-les-Eaux only shot 33 percent. There wasn't much offensive rebounding from either side. Challes-les-Eaux was just a bit more sloppy with the ball, turning the ball over 20 times. They would also get no help at the free throw line, going to the line only four times and earning only three points from free throws.

Bernadette Ngoyisa was the player of the game for Union Hainaut, scoring 12 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Tiffany Stansbury also had a great game, scoring four points, six rebounds and four steals. Chioma Nnamaka would only score six points and even though Clémence Biekes scored 11 points, she missed three free throws and had three turnovers. Most of her points were third-quarter points.

Laina Badiane would score nine points and seven rebounds for Challes-les-Eaux. Martina Luptakova-Gyursci scored 10 points, the only player to score in double figures for Challes-les-Eaux. Kirby Copeland, a former Virginia Tech player, would score two points in 13 minutes of play.

LFB (France) 15/2008 - Bourges 67, Villeneuve d'Ascq 50

LFB 2008 2009 J15 Bourges Basket Villeneuve d'Ascq
by Chacha_9

Villeneuve d'Ascq (9-6) has certainly gotten a few steps better since the beginning of the year - they added Iziane Castro Marques to replace Fatua Sacko, and managed to turn things around to at least compete in the Ligue Féminine. However, there are teams playing at another level, like Bourges (14-1). Bourges delivered a decisive 67-50 defeat at home in front of an announced crowd of 2,000 spectators to the visitors of Villeneuve d'Ascq, giving Villeneuve d'Ascq a lot to think about over the break.

The box score is here, and as you can see above, someone made a film of highlights of the game. The problem is that both teams are wearing similar-colored uniforms; it's very hard to tell who is who.

Bourges showed their strength by holding Villeneuve d'Ascq to just seven first quarter points. At halftime, the score was 35-18 in favor of Bourges. Villeneuve had only scored 28 points by the end of the third quarter, and Bourges pulled out their puzzle books in the fourth quarter and relaxed, knowing that there would be no comeback by Villeneuve d'Ascq.

Bourges hit 45 percent of their baskets, compared with a 40 percent rate by Villeneuve d'Ascq. The rebounding rate was even more lopsided in favor of the home team. Villeneuve d'Ascq turned the ball over a couple of times more than Bourges. Villeneuve d'Ascq would not make up anything at the free throw line - Bourges only afforded them ten visits.

Only two players scored in double digits for Bourges - Ana Lelas scored 15 points, and Nwal-Endéné Miyem scored 13 points. Ana Cata-Chitiga scored six points for Bourges, but picked up nine rebounds. Alessandra Santos de Olivera, who last played for the WNBA in 2001, scored only five points in 15 minutes of play.

Geraldine Robert scored 12 points for the visiting Villeneuve d'Ascq and Florence Lepron scored nine points. Iziane Castro Marques scored 10 points, but shot horribly from the field, 4 for 16, and turned the ball over four times.

Villeneuve d'Ascq only played seven players. Jolene Anderson did not play.

(* * *)

With that, regular season play takes a nice long European vacation. The Ligue Féminine will not resume regular-season play until February 7th, 2009.

Villeneuve d'Ascq has been presented with a problem. Iziane Castro Marques was signed by Villeneuve d'Ascq only until December 20th - the goal was that Izi would play just long enough for Fatou Sacko to recover. Izi was expected to be a sort of B-class player. Instead, Izi's play really helped the team turn around.

Fans and press want Villeneuve d'Ascq to sign Iziane Castro Marques for the second half. The question is if Villeneuve d'Ascq has enough cash to sign both players - with the world economy the way it is, does Villeneuve d'Ascq really want to spend that money? No one has heard anything from club management one way or the other, so the French fans don't know if Izi will be back in February. I guess we won't know until February, either.

Euroleague 10/2008 - Riga 77, Villeneuve d'Ascq 70

For Villeneuve d'Ascq (3-7), their Euroleague season only turned around when they picked up Iziane Castro Marques. They had dreams of possibly sneaking into fourth place into Group B - and therefore, the second round - or at least not finishing last.

But it was too little, too late. Weeks before, Villeneuve d'Ascq was mathematically eliminated from further playoff competition and at Riga (4-6), a late Riga run would give Riga a 77-70 win at home, locking Villeneuve d'Ascq into last place in Group C.

The box score is here. A game writeup can be found here.

Villeneuve d'Ascq actually did a fairly good job in the first three quarters: they led 22-14 after the first quarter and held off a Riga comeback, taking a 36-34 lead into halftime. Both teams played evenly in the third quarter and in front of 300 Latvian spectators, Villeneuve d'Ascq held on to a 45-43 lead.

Villeneuve d'Ascq held on to a 60-55 lead with 8:26 to go...and then the unthinkable happened. Riga went on a 14-0 run, and with 5:01 left, Riga was suddenly up 69-60. Villeneuve d'Ascq never got closer than five points to Riga for the rest of the game.

Shooting was fairly even - 44 percent for Villeneuve d'Ascq, 42 percent for Riga. However, Riga picked up twenty offensive rebounds. Iziane Castro Marques had something to say about that:

"TTT (Riga) played well today, they put some pressure on us and we lost the battle for rebounds. We had won five games in a row but today our winning streak came to an end." Riga's dominating rebounding made up for turning the ball over 16 times. Riga also went to the free throw line 14 times to Villeneuve d'Ascq's eight, with each team missing a pair of gimmes.

Riga's leading scorer was Tatyana Troina, with 26 points. Essense Carson - a guard/forward for the New York Liberty last year - scored 11 points for Riga. A pair of Riga players, Ieva Kublina and Aija Brumerman, had 11 and 10 rebounds respectively for Riga.

For Villeneuve d'Ascq, Geraldine Robert's performance was judged the best, with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Fatua Sacko would score 26 points and seven rebounds for the visitors and Laurie Datchy would score 11 points. Iziane Castro Marques would score only nine poitns in 21 minutes of play and Jolene Anderson would score zero points in 19 minutes of play.

As I'm at work, I'll attach the pics later.

Euroleague 10/2008 - Ekaterinburg 85, Union Hainaut 56

Sandrine Gruda, busy NOT playing for France.

Union Hainaut (3-7) needed to have to things happen in order to advance to the second round of Euroleague. They'd have to beat Group C leader Ekaterinburg (9-1) on the final game of first round play...in Russia. Second, Prague would have to lose its game to Gdynia.

Not only did Prague beat Gdynia, but Ekaterinburg delivered an 85-56 whipping of Hainaut that will leave Union Hainaut fans numb.

The writeup of the game is here. The box score is here.

The game report pretty much says it all. Ekaterinburg trailed 2-1 in the first quarter. Then, Ekaterinburg would score seventeen straight points to go up 18-1 in the first. Union Hainaut was held to four first quarter points. The first quarter finished 26-4.

At halftime, it was 55-12. That's right, Union Hainaut scored 12 points in 20 minutes of play. That's when you pull out the Sudoku if you're on the Ekaterinburg bench.

Ekaterinburg shot 55 percent from the field compared to Union Hainaut's 35 percent. Ekaterinburg made more 2-point baskets that Union Hainaut made in 2-point and 3-point buckets combined. Ekaterinburg made more rebounds and forced Union Hainaut to cough up the ball 22 times. Union Hainaut also sent Ekaterinburg to the free throw line 23 times.

Ugh.

Oddly enough, it wasn't one of the American players doing the heavy lifting for Ekaterinburg. The best performance was probably from Sandrine Gruda (Connecticut Sun), who scored 15 points and had five rebounds. To have Gruda on a Russian team instead of a French team must be making someone in the French basketball hierarchy very unhappy. Maria Stepanova (Phoenix Suns, 2005) would score 11 points and seven rebounds.

The minutes were fairly evenly spread around, with no player playing more than 27 minutes on Ekaterinburg. Deanna Nolan (Detroit Shock) scored seven points. Yelena Leuchanka (Washington Mystics 2007, possibly Atlanta Dream 2009) scored six points and five rebounds. Cappie Pondexter (Phoenix Mercury) scored five points. Svetlana Abrosimova (Connecticut Sun) scored 11 points and five assists. If you had WNBA pedigree, it was a good day.

Only one player for Hainaut would score in double figures - oddly enough, Hainaut's player of the game was Chioma Nnamaka with 11 points and four rebounds. Melanie Plust would score nine points for Union Hainaut. Bernadette Ngoyisa would score four points in 23 minuts and Tiffany Stansbury would score two points in 18 minutes.

There are pictures from this game, but they're at work, so I can't post them. Definitely will post later.

LFB (France) 14/2008 - Villeneuve d'Ascq 74, Aix-en-Provence 68

Iziane Castro Marques was only scheduled to be in France as long as Villeneuve d'Ascq (9-5) player Fatuo Sacko remains injured. However, with the way Villeneuve d'Ascq is playing, they must have decided to keep Izi for a while - both Izi and Fauto managed to go on the road and beat Aix-en-Provence (7-7) by a score of 74-68.

The box score is here. Villeneuve d'Ascq has been 6-1 with Izi on their side.

Villeneuve d'Ascq got off to a slow start, falling behind 19-14 in the first quarter and down 37-34 by half. However, Villeneuve d'Ascq outscored Aix-en-Provence 40-31 in the second half to take their ninth win of the year.

Hollie Grima scored 23 points and 14 rebounds to clearly lead all players on Aix-en-Provence. The only other two players to score in double figures were Renae Camino (14 points) and Laurence van Malderen (yes, she's female) with 12 points. K. B. Sharp who played for the Chicago Sky in 2008, scored nine points and played the full 40 minutes.

Five players scored in double figures for Villeneuve d'Ascq. Geraldine Robert scored 17 points, 15 rebounds and five steals - she was clearly the best player of the game. Fatuo Sacko scored 18 points and eight rebounds. Iziane Castro Marques would score 10 points and five rebounds, and Jolene Anderson would score 10 points in 22 minutes of play.

I'm sure pictures will be posted soon.

LFB (France) 14/2008 - Calais 90, Union Hainaut 69

It just seems to go up and down for Union Hainaut (8-6). A few weeks ago, they were fighting for third place in the LFB (France) but after a 90-69 whipping by Calais (8-6) on the road, it looks like Union Hainaut might be fighting to keep its record above .500 as the second half of the French season begins.

The box score is here.

Calais and Union Hainaut were evenly matched at first, the score ending 17-17 after the first 10 minutes, but Union Hainaut would be held to 15 points in each of the second and third quarters. Calais led 42-32 at haltime, extended the lead to 63-47 after three quarters, and the game was effectively over.

The home team out-shot Union Hainaut 54 percent to 35 percent. Union Hainaut fought back on the offensive boards, scoring 14 offensive rebounds to Calais's six.

However, Union Hainaut would send Calais to the free throw line an astonishing 37 times, and Calais would hit 28 of their shots. Union Hainaut would be sent to the line 29 times in a foul-prone game, but only hit 20 shots. Two players - Tiffany Stansbury and Kathy Wambe - would foul out for Union Hainaut.

Anne-Sophie Pagnier scored 20 points for Calais and Lauren Neaves had a double double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Sara Leemans scored 13 points and Olayinka Sanni, a rookie with the Detroit Shock this year, scored 11 points and three rebounds.

Only two players would score in double digits for Union Hainaut - Bernadette Ngoyisa scored 16 points and was a one-woman rebounding machine, scoring 17 rebounds, one short of half of Union Hainaut's total rebounds. Clémence Biekes scored 13 points. Chioma Nnamaka scored eight points, and Tiffany Stansbury scored only two points in her eight minutes of play before fouling out.

Villeneuve d'Ascq-Union Hainaut: The Movie

LFB 2008-2009 : J13 VILLENEUVE D'ASCQ / UNION HAINAUT
by esbvalm

Highlights of the Villeneuve d'Ascq-Union Hainaut game. See if you can find Chioma Nnamaka or Iziane Castro Marques. My thoughts:

a) Izi hits a jumper within the first 10 seconds
b) what a repetitive background soundtrack
c) I like the hand-clappers, Europe's answer to thundersticks
d) beware of the evil clown at 0:52 and 1:22
e) the dancers from 2:11 to 2:16 - sorry, but the Shooting Stars dancers are better
f) ESBVA brought their band! (2:17)
g) ...and Union Hainaut brought their band! (2:50)

Great movie! I give it four stars!

Euroleague 9/2008 - Villeneuve d'Ascq 76, Venezia 70

Vanessa Hayden-Johnson is a big girl.

Since being mathematically eliminated from second-round competition, Villeneuve d'Ascq (3-6) had nothing to play for but pride. So they traveled to Venezia (7-2), the top team in Group B, and handed them a 76-70 upset in front of 500 spectators.

The game report is here. The boxscore is here.

This had to be an extremely close game. Get this: the final three quarters were tied. For the second, third, and fourth quarters each team scored 19 points, leaving Villeneuve d'Ascq to carry a 19-13 lead in the first quarter to the end of each of the subsequent quarters.

Villeneuve d'Ascq took a 38-32 lead into halftime. A Jolene Anderson 3-pointer in the third quarter stretched the lead to 11 points with 3:05 remaining in the third, 52-43. Venezia fought back, but couldn't close the gap entire. The home team closed the gap to four points, 68-64, with 1:37 left in the game when Jenifer Nadalin scored on her own offensive rebound. However, Villeneuve d'Ascq would hang on for the win.

Villeneuve d'Ascq shot 49 percent from the field, compared to 46 percent by Venezia. Both teams scored the exact same number of rebounds and scored similarly well at the free throw line, but Venezia would turn the ball over 23 times.

Simona Ballardini would lead all Venezia scorers with 16 points and six rebounds. Daliborka Jokic scored 15 points and Mariangela Cirone scored 10 points for Venezia. Vanessa Hayden-Johnson would score five points and three rebounds in 17 minutes of play, picking up five fouls along the way. Hayden Johnson was a reserve center for the Lynx in 2008.

Iziane Castro Marques would lead Villeneuve d'Ascq to victory, scoring 25 points with 27 shots. Ljubica Drljaca scored 14 points and five rebounds, and Geraldine Robert added 12 points. Jolene Anderson would score nine points.

There is a mini-gallery of pictures at the Euroleague site, and I'll look at the Villeneuve d'Ascq website for more.

Euroleague 9/2008 - Ros Casares 91, Union Hainaut 61

After today's Euroleague match, there would be only one more game before teams advanced to the second round. Ros Casares (7-2) had an outside chance of finishing first in Group C, but the outcome of their game against Union Hainaut (3-6) didn't matter much - Ekaterinburg beat Prague 103-57, pretty much securing first place in Group C.

Union Hainaut had to win both of its remaining games to secure a chance to go onto Euroleague. They would have to beat El Ros, a team that beat them 48 points in Spain. In France this time, the outcome was different - they only lost by thirty points, 91-61, at home in front of 1100 spectators.

The boxscore is here.

According to the game report, the score was close...for the first 15 minutes. Ros Casares led 27-25, and then started to pull away. It was 41-32 at halftime, 71-47 after three quarters and Ros Casares added six more points in the fourth.

It was simply a matter of scoring - Ros Casares hit 51 percent of their shots and Union Hainaut only hit 39 percent. Believe it or not, Union Hainaut had more offensive rebounds than Ros Casares. Ros Casares, however, went 16 for 18 from the free throw line.

Clémence Biekes led all Union Hainaut scorers with 10 points. Vedrana Grgin Fonseca scored nine points and five rebounds, and Laetitia Kamba scored four points and eight rebounds. Tiffany Stansbury would score eight points and Chioma Nnamaka would score four for Union Hainaut.

For Ros Casares, four players scored in double figures. Amaya Valdemoro socred 19 points to lead all players on both teams. Delisha Milton-Jones scored 17 and Roneeka Hodges scored 13. Erika de Souza would only play 14 minutes and score four points - they didn't need her much in a blowout win.

Union Hainaut doesn't have the pictures up on the hainaut-basket.com site just yet. I'll post them when they get there.

Villeneuve d'Ascq-Union Hainaut Pics

Chioma, meet Izi.

There are pictures of the Villeneuve d'Ascq-Union Hainaut game at the Union Hainaut website. You'll have to join the website, but if you're a Chioma Nnamaka/Atlanta Dream fan, you can get your fill of pictures.

LFB (France) 13/2008 - Villeneuve d'Ascq 87, Union Hainaut 69

Union Hainaut (8-5) had hopes of being the best team in the Ligue Féminine, but it seems those hopes are meeting reality - Villeneuve d'Ascq (8-5) has a long history with Union Hainaut's predecessor club (Valenciennes) and had been looking forward to the match, which they would win at home 87-69. I'm not sure if Chioma Nnamaka or Iziane Castro Marques were aware of that history, but they got to meet as opponents for the first time in the Ligue Féminine.

The boxscore is here.

It was a game that went back and forth in the first half, with Villeneuve d'Ascq taking a 43-41 lead into halftime. According to one account, Villeneuve d'Ascq came out aggresive in the second half, winning the third quarter by six points and the final quarter by 11 points. In the second half overall, it was 45-28 for the home team.

Villeneuve d'Ascq outshot Union Hainaut 48 percent to 41 percent. The home team kept down their turnovers, turning the ball over only nine times in the game compared to Union Hainaut's 16. Villenevue d'Ascq would go to the line 22 times and hit 16 of their shots, whereas Union Hainaut only had 13 free throw attempts.

Ljubica Drljaca led all Villeneuve d'Ascq players with 25 points, but it was Geraldine Robert who was the star of the team with 21 points and 17 rebounds, a double double. She earned exactly one half of the team's rebounds all by herself. Iziane Castro Marques earned 17 points, shooting 6 for 13. Jolene Anderson played 21 minutes but only scored three points.

For Union Hainaut, Kathy Wambe and Vedrana Fonseca each scored 11 points. Tiffany Stansbury scored 7 points (and had four turnovers). Chioma Nnamaka scored 5 points, played 16 minutes and had five fouls. I suspect that this is the game that Bernadette Ngoyisa was forced to sit out by the Ligue Féminine due to accumulating too many technical fouls over the season - Ngoyisa played in last weeks game against Landes.

Union Hainaut finally has a new website: http://www.hainaut-basket.com. They have some pictures of last week's game and it looks like they have their act together when it comes to pics. We'll just have to wait for the pics to be posted.

Euroleague 8/2008 - Gdynia 86, Union Hainaut 62

A win would have differentiated Union Hainaut (3-5) from the teams below it, putting the French squad in third place with two games to go in the first round of Euroleague. Instead, Union Hainaut traveled to Gdynia (3-5) and lost, 86-62, in front of 1700 Polish spectators.

The loss forces a three-way tie for third place in Group C. Sure, if Union Hainaut wins their next two Euroleague games, they could make it to the second round. Unfortunately, the next two games for Union Hainaut are against Ros Casares (6-2) at home and Ekaterinburg (7-1) on the road.

The box score is here.

Union Hainaut lost every quarter of the game. Down by only five points at halftime, 37-34, Gydnia scored 30 points in the third quarter and turned a five point lead into an 18 point lead. They would win going away easily.

Gdynia outshot Union Hainaut 55 percent to 39 percent. How do you make that up? You don't make it up with three extra offensive rebounds. You don't make it up with one fewer turnover. And you sure as hell don't make it up by sending Gdynia to the free throw line 21 times.

Gdynia's two WNBA acquisitions would lead the team in scoring. Alana Beard led all players on both teams with 22 points and eight rebounds. Monique Currie would score 19 points and three rebounds, and Ivana Matovic would score 15 points. Beard and Currie both play for the Washington Mystics.

For the visiting "Panthers", Sabrina Reghaissia would score 11 points to lead Union Hainaut and Vedrana Grgin Fonseca would score 10 points. The player of the game for Union Hainaut, however, was Tiffany Stansbury, with eight points and eight rebounds.

As for Chioma Nnamaka, she was held scoreless in twenty minutes of play. She only took one shot. I don't know if that was deliberate or not.

Euroleague 8/2008 - Villeneuve d'Ascq 61, Sopron 55

Geraldine Robert - why don't you show Amber Holt any respect?

The Atlanta Dream might have finished dead last but for a lot of struggling European teams, Dream players have been the difference between winning and losing. Villeneuve d'Ascq wins 61-55 at home, and Sopron falls to 4-4 in Group B.

With a 2-6 record, Villeneuve d'Ascq finds itself in the same position as Nadhezda Orenburg in Group B - hoping to win the last two games and finish in fourth place. Fourth place means you move on to the second round; fifth place means you're dead.

The boxscore is here. A writeup linking to a small gallery can be found here. (No Izi pics. Guess we have to give up our pics to get Sancho Lyttle.)

The first half of the game was marked by instability - Sopron was held to nine first quarter points and Villeneuve d'Ascq was held to nine second quarter points. With the score 30-28 in favor of Sopron, Villeneuve d'Ascq came back to tie it at 45-45 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, Jolene Anderson sparked an 8-0 run for Villeneuve d'Ascq that secured the win for the home squad.

Sopron shot better than Villeneuve d'Ascq - 46 percent to 41 percent - but it turns out to be misleading. First, Sopron took fewer shots. Second, Villeneuve d'Ascq went 7-for-17 behind the arc - Sopron went 0 for 10; all of their field goals were worth two points. Villeneuve d'Ascq was also slighty better at the offensive boards.

Ljubica Drljaca had 15 points, five rebounds and seven assists for Villeneuve d'Ascq. Geraldine Robert scored 17 points. Iziane Castro Marques scored 12 points, but it took her 17 shots to make those points. Jolene Anderson picked up nine points.

Three players finished in double figures for Sopron: Jelena Milovanovic scored 16 points, Katalin Honti scored 10 points and three rebounds, and Amber Holt scored 10 points and five rebounds. Holt is a rookie forward with the Connectict Sun.

Euroleague Results

Nadezhda Orenberg 82, Halcion Avenda 63. What a difference Betty Lennox makes! After not winning a single game in Group A of Euroleague, Nadezdha (1-6) finally defeats a Halcion Avenda (5-2) team that beat them in Spain. About 2,500 spectators got to see Betty's debut.

Shameka Christon led all Nadezhda players with 20 points and six rebounds. Betty Lennox had a fairly decent game for Nadezhda - 17 points on 24 shots. At least, it's better than a lot of debuts after extended layoffs. (However, a poster at RebKell notes that most of Noox's points were garbage points, scored when Nadezhda was up by 15.)

Le'Coe Willingham led Halcion Avenda with 16 points. Other American/NCAA/WNBA performances were by Donette Snow (7 points) and by Paula Clocan (2 points).

Ros Casares 88, Prague 69. Erika de Souza remains injured, but her team climbs to 5-2 in Group B, getting a little closer to mathematically securing a spot in the second round.

Union Hainaut 80, Sibenik 69. Union Hainaut climbs to 3-4 in Group B with three games left, and 3-4 is good for third place when you have Ekaterinburg and Ros Casares in your group.

Five players scored in double figures for Union Hainaut, including Bernadette Ngoyisa with 17 and Chioma Nnamaka with 10. Constance Jinks scored 24 points for Sibenik, with Kerri Gardin pitching in 11.

What Happened to Bernadette Ngoyisa

We have some news about Tiffany Stansbury's injury and about Bernadette Ngoyisa's one game suspension at Union Hainaut.

The link is here, and Women's Basketball in France provides news about other clubs.

According to eurobasket at Rebkell, "She was a little but unlucky with her third technical. She felt that she was the fouled player and basically made her feeling known. The offical called a T and that was it." The suspension is only for the French league and does not suspend to Euroleague. However, if Ngoyisa gets further technicals, they could lead to further suspensions.

Wow. The French leagues are really tough. If they suspended players in the NBA for their third technical, I bet there would be players that wouldn't play all season.

Update on CSKA Moscow

Supposedly, CSKA Moscow will no longer compete in Euroleague games, either.

I have no idea how Euroleague will handle this. Villeneuve d'Ascq - Iziane Castro Marques's new team - is in the same group that second place CSKA Moscow was in. Villeneuve d'Ascq was in fifth place in Group B in Euroleague.

If Euroleague decides to choose the top four of the remaining five Group B teams, this gives Villeneuve d'Ascq a fighting chance. Of course, Euroleague could just give automatic wins to the four teams that haven't played Moscow twice yet. Which is a pity for Villeneuve d'Ascq - they were the only team that CSKA Moscow got around to playing twice and Villeneuve d'Ascq dropped both games.

LFB (France) 11/2008 - Union Hainaut 64, Tarbes 62

Just last year, the Valenciennes and Saint-Amand teams in the French League could expect to find themselves at or near the top of the league. When those two clubs combined to become Union Hainaut (7-4), they found themselves looking up at the top for the first time. Despite a slow start and unimpressive slew of Euroleague games, Union Hainaut marched into Tarbes (10-1) and sent Tarbes to its very first loss this year in either the French League or Euroleague as the visitors scored an upset, 64-62.

The boxscore is here.

It looked as if Tarbes could keep Union Hainaut away form a win. They led 34-24 at halftime, and probably expected to expand the lead. Instead, Union Hainaut kept up with Tarbes in the third quarter and were still within 10 points, 51-41. In the fourth quarter, Union Hainaut held the home team to 11 points and managed a come from behind victory - down 58-57 with just two minutes left, Bernadette Ngoyisa scored five consecutive points for Union Hainaut to lead them to third place in the French League.

Based on shooting percentage, someone reading the boxscore would expect Tarbes to win automatically - they shot 49 percent compared to Union Hainaut's 40 percent. Rebounding was even, but Union Hainaut picked up six offensive boards compared to Tarbes's two. Furthermore, Tarbes turned the ball over six more times than Union Hainaut. Union Hainaut also shot 90 percent from the free throw stripe and scored three more free throws than Union Hainaut. Add to that the fact that Tarbes only hit one 3-point shot and Union Hainaut found enough space in the boxscore - so to speak - to edge out a win.

For hometeam Tarbes, Isabelle Yacoubou-Dehoui led all players with 21 points and nine rebounds. Ndeye Ndiaye had 17 points and seven rebounds but also five turnovers. Tanisha Wright, a guard for the Seattle Storm playing for Tarbes, had 14 points and eight assists.

The distribution of points for Union Hainaut was a bit more evenhanded. Sabrina Reghaissa led all players with 13 points, but Bernadette Ngoyisa had nine points and 11 rebounds. Sabrina Palie added 11 points and Chioma Nnamaka added nine points for Union Hainaut.

I'm sure there will be pictures of the game soon.

LFB (France) - 11/2008 - Villeneuve d'Ascq 77, Montpellier 69

Two of the five teams tied at 5-5 in the French league were looking for an important win - with two undefeated teams and no team better than 6-4, every team needs all the attention it can get. Against Montpellier (5-6), home field advantage might have provided a little bit of help as Villeneuve d'Ascq (6-5) won 77-69 in front of a crowd of 1,100 spectators.

The boxscore is here.

It was actually a close game for the first half. Montpelier only led one in the first quarter, and by halftime, the game was tied 42-42. In the third quarter, Villeneuve d'Ascq marched out to a six point lead and outscored Montpellier 35-27 over the course of the final twenty minutes.

Montpellier outshot the visitors 44 percent to 41 percent. It was Villeneuve d'Ascq, however, that won the battle of rebounding on both the offensive and total rebounding sides of the coin. Furthermore, Montpellier turned the ball over 22 times. Those two keys of the game made the difference for Villeneuve d'Ascq against Montpellier's slightly superior shooting.

Four players scored in double figures for Villeneuve d'Ascq. Géraldine Robert led all scorers for Villeneuve d'Ascq with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Iziane Castro Marques would score 18 points, but it would take 23 shots for Izi to score all of those points - the 18 points are misleading. Milijana Evtoukhovitch scored 10 points and 11 rebounds for Villeneuve d'Ascq, the only player on either side to score a double-double. Jolene Anderson played for 25 minutes but only had four points to show for it.

As for Montpellier, Sheana Mosch led all plyers with 22 points and four assists. Three other players scored in double figures for Montpellier, including Elodie Bertal with 14 points and seven rebounds. Khadijah Whittington, who played for the Indiana Fever this year, was out for Montpellier with an injury.

Pictures will either come or not come. C'est la vie.

Euroleague 6/2008 - Moscow 88, Villeneuve d'Ascq 79

"Janel I stp on yr foot." "OW MAI FOOT!!"

What is that they say about "any given day"? Isn't that supposed to be a football thing? Don't teams like CSKA Moscow (4-2) get what they want when it comes to Euroleague? Didn't they beat Villeneuve d'Ascq (1-5) by 52 points to open Euroleague play?

I guess that having home court advantage changes things. Against a relatively packed home court of 1600 spectators, Villeneuve d'Ascq came this close to upsetting Moscow, losing 88-79.

The boxscore is here. The writeup is here.

Looking at the quarter-by-quarter score, Villeneuve d'Ascq had a successful first half. They led 24-21 after the first 10 minutes and took a 47-41 lead into halftime. Moscow closed the gap to a bucket after the third quarter, 64-62.

For the first part of the fourth quarter it was the same story: Moscow would tie. Villeneuve d'Ascq would get the next bucket. And so on. The last time that Villeneuve d'Ascq had the lead was at 70-68 with 6:49 remaining. Becky Hammon on the Moscow team would score a three-pointer to put Moscow in the lead for the first time, and Katie Douglas and Becky Hammon would add five more quick points to go up 76-70. Moscow would never lose the lead from that point.

It was definitely a close game with lots of great play. Villeneuve d'Ascq shot 50 percent and Moscow shot 53 percent. Moscow would edge Villeneuve d'Ascq in the battle of the boards. Both teams kept turnovers low (only 11 turnovers for each team in the entire game), and both teams were miserable at the free throw line. Moscow simply muscled their way to a win.

Iziane Castro Marques was the human highlight for Villeneuve d'Ascq. She played almost the entire game, and scored 25 points in just 17 shots - very efficient. Ljubica Drljaca scored 20 points and seven rebounds, and Geraldine Robert scored a double double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jolene Anderson played for 15 minutes, but didn't score a single point - if she or Florence Lepron (26 minutes, two points) had stepped up Villeneuve d'Ascq might have won.

As for the All-Star team that calls itself "CSKA Moscow", Ann Wauters (San Antonio Silver Stars) scored 23 points, 11 rebounds and four assists to lead the faux Muscovites. All of the Americans scored in double figures. Becky Hammon (San Antonio Silver Stars) scored 18 points and five assists, Janel McCarville (New York Liberty) scored 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Katie Douglas (Indiana Fever) scored 16 points.

Euroleague 6/2008 - Prague 83, Union Hainaut 58

For Prague (2-4), it was a chance to crawl away from the bottom of Group C in Euroleague. For Union Hainaut (2-4) it was another crushing loss as Prague beat Union Hainaut at home 83-58.

The writeup is here. The boxscore is here.

According to the writeup. Prague got off to a fast start and led 24-10 after one quarter. At one point, Prague led by 20 in the first half, 41-21 when Union Hainaut went on a 13-0 run with just three minutes left in the first half to close the score to 41-34 at haltime.

After that, Swin Cash took over the game for Prague. Union Hainaut was outscored 42-24 in the second half, simply overwhelmed by the home team in front of 920 spectators in the Czech Republic. The win for Prague avenges an opening game Eurocup loss at Union Hainaut.

Prague outscored Union Hainaut 52 percent to 37 percent in field goal shooting. Up close - that is, in front of the 3-point arc - Prague was 30 for 47 in 2-point shots, shooting 63 percent. They doubled Union Hainaut over in rebounding, and were sent to the free throw line 20 times where they hit 85 percent of their shots. Union Hainaut was crushed.

Swin Cash had a monster game for Prague with 27 points, eight rebounds, and four steals. Cash plays for the Seattle Storm during the regular WNBA season. Lindsay Whalen of the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA helped in the drubbing with a 20 point, eight rebound game. Sandra Le Dréan, a French player playing in Prague, scored 11 points and 11 rebounds for Prague.

Only two players would score in double figures for Union Hainaut. Bernadette Ngoyisa would score 20 points and eight rebounds, and Kathy Wambe would have 10 points and four assists. Chioma Nnamaka would contribute eight points, but commit four personal fouls.

No gallery of pictures exists yet, but Euroleague is pretty good about that.