fibaeurope.com's women's basketball specialist Paul Nilsen takes a look back at the fourth week of action of the new EuroLeague Women season: Ogwumike is Week 4 top performer
Nneka leads EuroLeague Women in scoring (21.7ppg, shooting percentage (63.6% FGP) and double-doubles (3) and is second in rebounding(12.7rpg).
... from Queens to Stanford to Oakland,
... from the court to the sideline,
in Rosalyn Gold-Onwude Crosses the Sideline in New Role with the Warriors
Candice spent last week in Chile as a sports envoy for the U.S. State Department.
Sports Envoys are athletes and coaches who travel overseas to lead programs that were developed by U.S. embassies and consulates. These American coaches and athletes hold sports clinics for young people and their coaches, participate in community outreach activities, and engage youth in a dialogue on the importance of leadership and respect for diversity.
Candice was paired with basketball Hall of Famer Alex English for a week-long series of clinics and engagements in Santiago and Concepcion, Chile from November 16-22.
Click here for her account of the experience.
St Francis College is a private Franciscan college in Brooklyn. St Francis Brooklyn basketball teams compete in NCAA Division I Northeastern conference.
This WNBA article has more information: How Jayne Appel Stays Busy During the Offseason
Nneka has made a bang on her return to EuroLeague Women, taking Week 2 Top Performer honours in Dynamo Kursk's debut in Europe's premier women's club competition.
Read: Ogwumike is Week 2 Top Performer
And Chiney and Nneka have posted their fifth episode of #O is for Overseas.
Nneka and Chiney have launched YouTube channel TeamOgwumike where they'll grant you inside access as they venture to Russia and Italy for the next 6 months.
Hit the play button below to watch the first four episodes.
Play it in YouTube (click the YouTube icon in lower right) to subscribe to channel TeamOgwumike.
Eleven Stanford alumnae have signed contracts with professional basketball teams in Europe and Australia for the 2014-15 winter season.
The regular season has begun in all the countries in which Stanford alumnae will be playing. Three of the Stanford alumnae will also be playing in EuroLeague Women, the premier international professional basketball league in Europe for women’s clubs. EuroLeague play began yesterday (November 5).
These six Stanford alumnae have played abroad in the past few seasons, but are not playing this season:
Jeanette Pohlen ('11) is rehabbing from the torn Achilles tendon she suffered in May 2014.
Jayne Appel ('10) earned her Master's degree in Business and Management while she was playing pro ball. Her Tweets suggest that she has moved to New York for the winter. Perhaps she is beginning a career associated with her MBA or perhaps she is focussing on being an advocate for equality issues and mental health awareness. At any rate, there has been no report of her signing a contract for the 2014-15 season.
Michelle Harrison ('10) is coaching basketball in Denver, but she no longer plays basketball due to recurring serious knee problems,
Candice Wiggins ('08) is ??? There is no post-WNBA schedule info in Candice's website, so I don't know what she is doing now. She went to Israel to play pro ball in late November last season. She may yet show up overseas in 2014-15, but there has been no report of her signing a contract yet.
Brooke Smith ('07) is studying to be a Physicians Assistant at Stanford.
Nicole Powell ('04) is an assistant coach to Kelly Graves at the University of Oregon.
These are the eleven women that are playing this season:
Schio is in northern Italy, about 60 miles northwest of Venice [map].
Chiney has made a dazzling start in her overseas career! In Schio's first six games of the regular season, she's tallied four double-doubles (22-16, 22-15, 37-13 and 23-13). She's averaging 25.3 points on 72.8% shooting, 12 rebounds, 4.2 steals, 1.8 blocks and 0.7 assists per game. She leads the Italian Serie A1 league in scoring and steals and is second in rebounds and blocks.
Chiney and Kayle got together when Lucca hosted Schio the second game of the season.
Famila Schio is playing in EuroLeague Women for the seventh consecutive season. Its best finish to-date is seventh place. Its first game is today (November 6).
The FIBA EuroLeague Women profile of Famila Schio includes:
Chiney Ogwumike is likely to be the go-to player this season. The number one WNBA draft pick is a dominant force in the frontcourt ...Headline Writer: There is no doubt that Ogwumike is going to be the centrepiece for Schio this season and has already demonstrated this during the first few weeks of the Italian League season. Plus, there is the exciting possibility of her playing against her sister later in the competition who is representing Dynamo Kursk - a headline in itself.
In Just Ten Words: Anything is possible with power of Ogwumike and veteran experience.
Mikaela is the starting power forward for the Flames. In their first four games, she's averaged 10.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists. She hasn't launched any 3-pointers yet, but she's been fouled a lot and has made 68% of her free throws.
Mikaela is enjoying Australia and her new team. She had this to say in an interview on a WNBL (Australian League) radio show:
Q. Was the call to come to Sydney completely cold?If you want to listen to Mikaela, the radio broadcast is here. Mikaela's interview begins at about 04:15.
A. I'm not exactly sure how my agent found it out, but once I realized I had a chance to come, I jumped all over it. I definitely wanted to come to Australia. It's a great country. Everyone speaks English so it made the transition a bit easier. So yeah, it was a no-brainer — easy choice.Q. You and Paris Johnson [San Diego State] are Sydney's imports this year. How is that working out?
A. Paris is awesome. We're roommates. She cooks for me sometimes — she's a good chef. And I love playing with her; we work really well together. So it's been good so far.Q. Is it different playing here?
A. It's a much quicker game here [than in college]. People like shooting 3s and running a lot, so I think it suits my game a little better. College was fun, but I like this. It's more exciting with the quick run and shoot we play here.
Jos is the starting shooting forward for Canik. In their first two games, she's averaged 16.5 points on 67% shooting, and 4.0 rebounds.
This is Sarah's second season with Widzew. She's their starting center. In their first five games, she has led the team in scoring (13.2), rebounding (7.8) and blocks (1.6).
Kursk is in southwestern Russia, about 330 miles south of Moscow [map]
Russia is four games into the regular season. Their season began just over two weeks after the FIBA Women's World Chanmpionship, and Nneka got off to a slow start. But she soon picked up the pace and is currently averaging 18.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. She's the leading scorer in the Russian PBL league.
Dynamo Kursk is playing in EuroLeague Women for the first time. It will play its first game next week.
The FIBA EuroLeague Women profile of Dynamo Kursk includes:
There is excitement with recent USA gold medallist Nnemkadi Ogwumike coming into the power forward slot ...Headline Writer: Ogwumike is back in EuroLeague Women and could be about to remind us all of the great attitude and displays she posted during her first stint when at CCC Polkowice. She has the ability to be a difference-maker and a real consistent threat.
Kayla is the starting power forward for Lucca. After their first five games, she leads the team in scoring (13.8), rebounds (8.2) and blocks (0.6). She has tallied two double-doubles (15-14 and 23-13).
Unfortunately, the team announced on November 2 that Kayla has injured her knee:
The company Basketball Le Mura stated that the response of recent findings that underwent the player Kayla Pedersen showed rupture of the anterior tibial spine consists of the right knee.The injury is not an ACL tear. It's an injury to the area where the ACL attaches to the tibia (read more) and is apparently not season-ending.The recovery time for this type of injury ranging from 4 to 5 weeks. As soon as the knee permits, Kayla will begin rehabilitation under the supervision of medical staff.
Townsville has won its first three games and is leading the WNBL League. Jillian is Townsville's starting shooting forward. She has averaged 6.0 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Marburg is in central Germany, about 60 miles north of Frankfurt [map].
The German regular season began late in September and is about 1/3 of the way through. Cissy starts as shooting guard for Marburg. After seven games, she's averaging 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds.
This is New's eighth season of playing professional basketball in Turkey. She's still in Istanbul, but after six seasons with Fenerbahce, she's now playing for the University team. Her husband, Emre Vatansever (they married this summer at Stanford) is the assistant coach at Galatasaray, which is also in Istanbul. Universitesi has played two regular season games. New did not play in either one. Seb played in Turkey for three seasons after graduating from Stanford. Then she took four seasons off from basketball to study for her law degree. Since earning her degree, she has chosen basketball over a law career, and has returned to Galatasaray for the third consecutive season. Galatasaray has played two regular season games. Seb only played in the first one, and there's nothing significant to report about her performance. Galatasaray has returned to FIBA EuroLeague Women for the 15th season. It won the championship last season. It played its first game of this season yesterday and lost to BLMA (Montpelier, France) 59-65; Seb did not play. The FIBA EuroLeague Women profile of Galatasaray includes:
Sebnem Kimyacioglu will forever be linked with the historic night in Russia after stepping off the bench to drain two huge triples and she also returns.
