Spanish League Round 16: Just 10 games left

We are now heading rounding the corner and will soon be heading into the homestretch of the regular season of the Spanish League.  There are only 10 more regular season games left.  Some teams will be eliminated from playoff contention soon.  Other teams will be eliminated from relegation contention soon, but you never know. 

Even if a team avoids the relegation process by finishing 12th or higher among the 14 Liga Femenina teams, there's no guarantee that it will be back next year.  Some teams fold or voluntarily move into lower divisions due to financial difficulties.  The finances of teams can radically change.  Look at Rivas Ecopolis, which won it all last season and is at best a mid-table team this season, and that was all due to finances. 

It makes creating a history of the league a historian's bane.  It seems that most European leagues don't even respect their own histories; finding anything on the internet is just short of impossible.  Eurobasket.com does the best job it can, but faces a lot of criticism for inaccurate information.

There will be a brief interruption in the regular season schedule.  On February 14th and 15th, the Copa de la Reina will take place.  Perfumerias will play Rivas Ecopolis in the first semifinal and Girona will play Conquero in the second semifinal on February 14th.  The two winners will play the Cup final on February 15th.

And now, on to the Round 16 games...

Perfumerias 71, Al-Qazeres 61

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Al-Qazeres (3-13) put up a good fight, but it wasn't good enough as visiting Perfumerias (14-2) got a 10 point win on the road.

Al-Qazeres did its best.  They took a 6-4 lead and forced Perfumerias to call a timeout.  After that, Perfumerias went on a 10-0 run and led 36-21 at halftime.  But the home team hung in there and managed to close the game to 47-41 with 28  minutes to go.  Unfortunately, it would only be a moral victory.  Despite Al-Qazeres outrebounding Perfumerias 43-27, Perfumerias shot 57 percent for the game.

Callan Taylor led Al-Qazeres with a double-double:  16 points/11 rebounds.  The only other Al-Qazeres player in double digits was Veronica Sanchez with 10 points.  Karla Gilbert had only 4 points in 20 minutes, but had 10 rebounds and five offensive rebounds.  Jennifer George had 8 points in 17 minutes played.

For Perfumerias, Shay Murphy had 23 points on 11-for-16 shooting.  Paola Ferrari had 16 points/7 rebounds.  Angel Robinson had 6 points/5 rebounds/4 assists in 29 minutes of play.

Attendance: About 5000.

Gran Canaria 58, Ferrol 48

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Gran Canaria (6-10) is in the bottom half of the league, and they'd like to put a little distance between themselves and the worst teams.  They managed to do that by getting a win on the road against Ferrol (6-10).

It was a bizarre game that went back and forth like a tennis ball at the Australian Open.  Gran Canaria was held to just five points in the first quarter and DeNesha Stallworth of Ferrol gave them a lot of problems.  

But they rolled back with a 24 point second quarter sparked by an 11-1 run.  They held a 29-25 lead at halftime.  Ferrol managed to dig back in and at the end of 30 minutes, the lead was just 42-40.  In the fourth quarter, it was Gran Canaria's moment to hold Ferrol to just eight points.  Part of the problem was that while Stallworth and Haley Peters were producing for Ferrol, no one else was.

Gran Canaria only shot 33 percent.  However, Ferrol only shot 28 percent and Gran Canaria outrebounded them 50-36.

DeNesha Stallworth had 11 points/14 rebounds and Haley Peters had 11 points/6 rebounds.  The only other Ferrol player with a decent game was Beatriz Sanchez, with 9 points/6 rebounds.

Vega Gimeno led Gran Canaria with 18 points and 5 rebounds.  Robyn Parks had 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting.  Samarie Walker had 8 points but had an amazing 21 rebounds (!!) including seven offensive rebounds.

Attendance: About 300.

Cadi La Seu 76, Bembibre 49

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It looked like it might be an interesting match up between two teams near the top of the Spanish League, but home team Cadi La Seu (11-5) knocked Bembibre (8-8) down a few notches with a 27 point win.

The key was the third quarter.  Leading 35-22, they came out of halftime and held Bembibre to just six points in the third quarter and led by 35 points at the end of 30 minutes.  Cadi La Seu went 19-for-22 at the free throw line.  Two 15-0 runs across the second and third quarter gave the victgory to the home squad.

Marlou de Kelijn led Cadi La Seu with 18 points and Ben Hind had 12 points.  Every player on the Cadi La Seu roster scored and all played at least 11 minutes.

Dita Leipkalne led Bembibre with 19 points.  Ariel Edwards only had 4 points in 7 minutes, but it was a better performance than some - four players combined for 34 minutes of play and had zero points to show for it, shooting a combined 0-for-3.

Conquero 54, Zamora 43

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Conquero (14-2) stayed with one game of Girona and Perfumerias with a bizarre 54-43 win over visiting Zamora (6-10).

Why was it bizarre?  Out of the eight quarters played, three of those finished with one of the teams scoring in single digits.  Conquero shot 33 percent but Zamora shot 28 percent.  Zamora scored 18 points in the first quarter, 13 in the second quarter...and then just 12 points in the second half.

Conquero's Maria Asurmendi led with 13 points and Lucila Pascua had 5 points and 11 rebounds.  Adaora Elonu had 12 points/7 rebounds, Chelsea Davis had 11 points/4 rebounds and Aja Parham had five points.

For Zamora, Caroline Durbin led all players with 17 points.  A pair of players had double-digits in rebounds:  Sandra Pirsic had 9 points/13 rebounds (but 5 turnovers) and Sofia Gomes da Silva had 5 points/10 rebounds.

Gernika 76, Rivas Ecopolis 61

In the last match on Saturday, Gernika (10-6) stayed in the playoff hunt by beating last year's champion Rivas Ecopolis (6-10) in a home victory.

This was a "game without a history" where the winner won every single quarter.  Not by large margins - the biggest win was a 17-10 margin in the third quarter - but they won by enough. Not much about this game on-line or otherwise. 

Bernice Mosby led Gernika with 20 points/8 rebounds.  Brittany Miller added 13 points/9 rebounds and Claudia Pop scored 8 points/7 rebounds.

For Rivas, Lyndra Weaver led with 17 points and Lady Comfort had 11 points/11 rebounds.  Ines Ajanovic had 9 points in the loss.

Bernice Mosby appreciated the win and the cookies that came with it:

After game Britt made me some cookies ????good win now sleepy pic.twitter.com/dlW6Dh1lYS

— bernice mosby (@BerniceMosby) January 24, 2015

Girona 70, Mann Filter 49

Girona (15-1) remained in the first position of the Liga Femenina with a decisive win over visiting Mann Filter (4-12) in the first of the two remaining games on Sunday.

Girona won every quarter.  Mann Filter was held to just 33 percent shooting.

Ify Ibekwe had yet another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for league-leading Girona.  Brittany Chambers also had another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.  Vanessa Gidden had 6 points/8 rebounds.

The only player on Mann Filter that scored in double-digits was Yvonne Turner with 17 points. 

Campus Promete 59, Gipuzkoa UPV 44

Campus Promete (4-12), sitting in the "relegation zone" in the league table, showed some spark as they beat visiting Gipuzkoa UPV (5-11) by 15 points.

Part of the reason for the win?  Gipuzkoa UPV was held to just 17 points in the first half.  Leading 32-17 at halftime, all Campus Promete needed to do was hang on to the lead.  Gipuzkoa had another horrible shooting day where they were held to under 30 percent.

New acquisition Chanel Mokango helped pull her weight with 14 points/9 rebounds.  Paula Estebas added 15 points/5 rebounds.  Leslie Knight had five points in 16 minutes of play.

For Gipuzkoa UPV, Miriam Foraste led with 14 points/6 rebounds.  Oumoul Sarr had 10 points/10 rebounds, but shot 4-for-14 for the game.  Lenita Sanford had zero points in 12 minutes of play.

Round 17 games (January 31st-February 1st)

*Gernika (10-6) @ Gran Canaria (6-10)
*Conquero (14-2) @ Rivas Ecopolis (6-10)
Campus Promete (4-12) @ *Zamarat (6-10)
*Girona (15-1) @ Gipuzkoa UPV (5-11)
*Cadi La Seu (11-5) @ Mann Filter (4-12)
Al-Qazares (3-13) @ Bembibre* (8-8)
Ferrol (6-10) @ Perfumerias* (14-2)

* - team won previous Round 4 match-up