Alumnae abroad 2011-12

The 2011-2012 professional basketball season is well underway in Europe.

All the national club team leagues have begun play, and this is week 3 of EuroLeague Women, the highest international professional basketball league in Europe for women’s clubs.

Here is a report of nine (the most ever) Stanford alumnae who are playing abroad this season and one who may or may not be.

Kayla Pedersen ('11) begins her overseas career in Slovakia playing for Good Angels Kosice (Dobri Anjeli)

Good Angels is a strong team, which should be especially appreciated by Kayla after her unfortunate WNBA rookie season. They are a leading team in Extraliga, the Slovakian League, and are also playing in EuroLeague Women — for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.

In a preview of their Week 2 EuroLeague game, the opposing head coach said, "Good Angels Kosice is a team with a good cast of national team players. They play and compete a lot and have got an interesting rookie in Kayla Pedersen."

Here is an evaluation of Good Angels by Paul Nilsen, a European basketball journalist.

Jeanette Pohlen ('11) begins her overseas career in Turkey playing for Tarsus Belediyesi

Tarsus is in southern Turkey about 10 miles inland from the Mediterranean.

Tarsus plays in TKBL, the Turkish League. They've only played one regular season game so far — it was a good one for Jeanette, who started and had 10 points, 2 rebounds, an assist and 4 steals.

Jayne Appel ('10) is in Turkey playing for Samsun.

Samsun is on the coast of the Black Sea, about 450 miles east of Istanbul.

This is effectively Jayne's rookie overseas season. She had signed with Tarsus last season, but returned home to rehab her injuries before the season began.

Jayne is a starter for Samsun. She did very well in their first TKBL League game. She scored just 2 points, but had 11 rebounds.

Jillian Harmon ('09) is in Italy playing for Pool Comense for the third season.

Comense plays in the Italy A1 League. They finished sixth in the 12-team league last season, but have begun this season with two wins.

Cissy Pierce ('08) is in Germany for the fourth season. She has moved from Frankfurt to Berlin and is now playing for the Halle Lions.

Cissy was the top scorer in the German DBBL league in 2009-10, and the Lions were delighted to sign her to their team.

The Lions have begun poorly this season. They have won just one of five games. Cissy leads her team in scoring (16.4 ppg) and is second in rebounds (6.4 rpg).

Candice Wiggins ('08) is currently in Spain, leading her Overseas Experience Tour.

I have heard it rumored that she will play overseas later in the season, but I have seen no official announcement of her plans.

Kristen Newlin ('07) is in Turkey playing for Fenerbahce for the fourth season. (The name she's known by in Turkey is Nevin Nevlin.)

Fenerbahce is one of two teams that dominate Turkish women's basketball (the other is Galatasaray). It placed second in the TKBL League last season, was the league tournament champion for the sixth consectuive season and advanced to the quarter-final round of EuroLeague Women.

The team is playing in EuroLeague Women again, for the sixth consecutive season. European basketball journalist Paul Nilsen thinks that Fenerbahce has a great chance of being one of the tournament front-runners this season in spite of the worrying storm clouds that gathered off the court last summer, which he explains in his evaluation of the team.

Brooke Smith ('07) is back in Italy playing for Pool Comense after a season in France.

This is her fifth season of professional basketball, her third with Comense.

Nicole Powell ('04) is in Poland playing for Wisla Can-Pack for the second season, her eighth in professional basketball.

Wisla had an excellent 2010-11 season. It was #1 in the PLKK Polish League, the league tournament champion and advanced to the quarter-final round of EuroLeague Women.

The team is playing in EuroLeague Women again, for the eighth consecutive season. Paul Nilsen thinks that Wisla could be one of the most interesting teams in the competition this season. Here is his evaluation of the team.

Cori Enghusen ('02) is beginning her tenth season of professional basketball, her seventh in Turkey, but with a new team. She's back in Istanbul with Besiktas. (The name she's known by in Turkey is Korel Engin.)