Villeneuve made life difficult for CSKA Moscow

Iziane Castro Marques (above) did not waste any time as she scored the first point of the game straight from the tip-off with less than two seconds on the game clock.

CSKA did not take long to respond as Janel McCarville equalised less than four seconds later. With this the tone for the match was set.

The game was fast and furious during the first five minutes with Villeneuve having the better of the exchange leading (14-10) with 10 points already to Castro Marques.

Ilona Korstin started the CSKA revolt as they switched their offensive and defensive systems and briefly went ahead (19-18). However Villeneuve regained the lead by the end of the first period (24-21).

Villeneuve continued to cause CSKA problems. They increased their advantage when Ljubica Drljaca fired in a three-pointer (31-25) early in the second period which sparked a 9-0 run.

With their backs to the wall CSKA needed something special from Ann Wauters.

She responded with the help of Katie Douglas and knocked a three-pointer (39-45) to bring down the deficit. However Villeneuve went into the interval leading (47-41).

For the first three minutes of the third period, both sides were firing in the ball from all over the court with Villeneuve staying in the lead (53-47).

The two teams started to work on defense which resulted in very little scoring for a couple of minutes. Villeneuve managed to increase their advantage to 10 points (57-47).

Becky Hammond who had been having a quiet game by her standards, woke up everybody with a shot from down-town. Castro Marques responded for Villeneuve with a shot from the land of many.

The WNBA show then continued with Wauters for CSKA.

Katie Douglas and McCarville (right - No. 4) scored to quickly bring CSKA's score down (60-62).

Villeneuve managed to hold on to the lead (64-62) going into the final quarter.

Hammond brought both sides level for the first time since the opening eight seconds (66-66).

It was Hammond with a shot from her favourite distance that put CSKA in front for the first time in the match (71-70) with almost 34 minutes played.

Hammond was then everywhere. She made the pass for Douglas to score. Then she hit another shot from beyond the arc as CSKA opened their biggest lead of the game (76-70).

Geraldine Robert (above in picture) interrupted the Hammond show briefly with a score for Villeneuve. Hammond's spell of dominance finally came to an end (79-72) with just under five minutes to play.

Afterwards it was Robert who was everywhere for Villeneuve. She passed the ball to Drljaca who then hit a trey to bring the game back to life (78-81) as money-time approached.

McCarville started to throw her weight around in the paint and scored back to back baskets to give CSKA some breathing space.

Villeneuve's chances slipped away when Castro Marques got called for the new unsportsmanlike foul rule while stopping a CSKA fast break.

Douglas only scored one of the free-throws but with Hammond (right) scoring 10 seconds later the game was safe.

CSKA Moscow went on to win (88-79) with Wauters leading the way with 23 points, 4 assists and 11 rebounds.

Hammond finished with 18 points and 5 assists while McCarville and Douglas scored 16 points each.

Castro Marques finished with 25 points and was joined in the twenties by Drljaca with 20 points.

EuroLeague Women qualifying Group A

Halcon Avenida required no last-minute heroics as they beat MiZo Pécs 2010 at home (83-60).

Donnette Snow led the scoring with 22 points for the hosts who had to overcome a 0-7 opening before taking control of the match around the 15-minute mark (26-24).

Halcon ended the game as a contest during the third period as they went into the final period with a 21-point advantage (61-40).

Isabel Sanchez and Le'Coe Willingham also finished in double digits with 16 and 15 points respectively.

With this victory the Spanish club side Halcon Avenida stay on top of Group A.

Wisla Can-Pack, playing at home, had to wait until the 26th minute before taking control of their game against Nadezhda.

They then outscored their guests (42-21) in the last 14 minutes to register win number 4 (91-70).

Bourges Basket had to wait until the second part of the third period to finally take command of their match against Besiktas Cola Turka. Bourges went on to win (60-56).

With this victory Bourges remain second although they have the same record as Wisla Can-Pack with four wins and two defeats.

Mizo Pécs are in fourth place with a one-game advantage over Besiktas Cola Turka.

Nadezhda are in last positions and are still looking for a victory.

EuroLeague Women qualifying Group B

There was nothing stopping Umana Reyer as they put away Gambrinus Sika Brno for the second time this season.

A 15-0 run at the start of the final period was enough to break the resistance of their guests as they went on to win (82-73).

With this victory and the results from the other teams in Group B Umana Reyer are the first team to qualify for the next stage of the competition.

MKB Euroleasing Sopron did not have it easy as they went into the fourth quarter leading (55-53) against TTT Riga.

A 12-0 run during the final period was enough to put them finally in control as they went on to win (69-59).

CSKA Moscow are in second place with the same record as MKB Euroleasing after their victory against Villeneuve d'Ascq (88-78).

EuroLeague Women qualifying Group C

UMMC Ekaterinburg made light work of Jolly JBS Sibenik to win their sixth EuroLeague Women match of the season and consolidate their position of the leader of the group.

Ekaterinburg, playing at home, had the game wrapped up by the break after opening a commanding lead (60-29). Laurent Buffard then had the luxury of giving all 12 players some time on the court. He also had the satisfaction of seeing his whole team on the score sheet.

Ekaterinburg went on to win (100-70) with once again Agnieszka Bibrzycka leading the scoring with 20 points. This included 4-of-4 from behind the arc. Maria Stepanova was the only other player in double-digits with 16 points.

Cappie Pondexter and Svetlana Abromimova dished out 5 assists each.

For Jolly JSB Constance Jinks and Kerri Gardin scored 12 points each.

ZVVZ USK Prague led from start to finish in their home game against Union Hainaut Basket.

They were quick out of the starting blocks and had 4 points on the scoreboard with less than 45 seconds on the game clock.

Hainaut’s first points from Bernadette Ngoyisa was the closest UHB were to get to their hosts in this match (2-4).

ZVVK USK dominated the first period and led (24-10). UHB played better during the second period and reduced their deficit by the interval (34-41).

ZVVK USK did not allow UHB the chance of bringing down their advantage and kept their 10-point lead (52-42) after 27 minutes.

Cash Swin (right) and Lindsay Whalen then stepped on the accelerator as ZVVK outscored their guests 10-3 to go into the final period with 17 points ahead (62-45).

The last quarter turned into a formality for the home side as they stretched their advantage to win (83-58) with Swin leading the scoring with 27 points.

Prague moved ahead of UHB in the ranking despite both teams having identical records.

Ros Casares required a change in defensive options to subdue their hosts LOTOS PKO BP during the second period. They then overcame an 8-point deficit to lead (39-36) at the interval.

LOTUS PKO won the battle of the boards 37:35. But they could not cope with the Spanish club side's defense which resulted in a total of 23 turnovers as they allowed their guests to walk away with the win.

Ros Casares' victory (85-59) consolidated their position in second place. DeLisha Milton-Jones led the scoring with 19 points.

UMMC lead EuroLeague Women qualification Group C and are two games clear of Ros Casares. The other four teams all have identical records of two wins and four defeats.

EuroLeague Women qualifying Group D

Nevriye Yilmaz led the scoring with 20 points and she also pull down 11 rebounds.

Spartak Moscow Region stayed in France after their victory against Montpellier last week in the EuroLeague Women and travelled to Italy on Sunday for this game against Beretta Famila.

Spartak Moscow Region have problems away from home this season. Their hosts from Italy refused to allow them to really settle into any rhythm and led (18-17) by the end of the first period.

However in the second period Sylvia Fowles (right) had time to put on a show after Nuria Martinez lost the ball at center court. The ball eventually reached Fowles who went down the court and then finished with a dunk.

This action then fired up Spartak Moscow as they took control of the game to go into the break with a small advantage (40-36).

In a lively third quarter Beretta kept it close and were just 3 points down (50-53) after 27 minutes.

Spartak Moscow did enough to increase their advantage by the end of the period (62-55).

This was enough for them to keep their hosts at bay as they went on to win (70-62 ) and go top of the group with 5 wins.

Montpellier travelled to Slovakia to play Broker Kosice without Khadijah Whittington and Aurélie Bonnnan. There they lost Sylvie Gruszczyinski half way through the second period.

The French side somehow managed to go into the interval leading (37-34). But they were finally put down by Linda Fröhlich (right) who hit three three-pointers in a row that allowed the hosts to take control of the game (49-41).

Montpellier had no inside presence and did their best to keep the final score respectable to finally loose (76-57). Pauline Krawczyk scored 16 points for Montpellier and was joined in double digits by Sheana Mosch with 15 points.

Fröhlich led the scoring for Broker with 28 points and 14 rebound. She was joined offensively by Sidney Spencer with 20 points.

The situation in this EuroLeague Women qualification group after six rounds is as follows:

Montpellier are last with six defeats and Beretta Famila are fifth with one victory.

TEO, Maxima Broker and Fernerbahce all have four wins and two defeats and are currently separated by point average.