Villeneuve did enough to stop Nantes-Rezé

The LFB basketball news of the week from Nantes-Rezé was the signing of Jessica Moore. Her signing unfortunately will mean that Kaela Chapdelaine will have to sit out, as the club is not allowed to play more than two non-European Community players per game.

Although Chapdelaine is still at the club it is very likely that the club will compensate her and release her from the contract.

The second consequence of this signing is that Doriane Tahane's playing time is likely to be reduced as she was playing the position that Moore is probably to occupy.

Nantes, playing at home, got off to an ideal start by scoring the first 5 points of the game. Yuliya Andreyeva hit a three-pointer which was quickly followed by a shot from Michele Van Gorp.

Iziane Castro Marques (left) opened Villeneuve's account with back to back treys and was very active during the first period.

With Jessica Moore and Van Gorp in tandam and the three-point shooting of Andreyeva Villeneuve could not put a run together.

However Villeneuve led (17-16) by the end of the first period.

Castro Marques continued her one-lady demolition of Nantes during the second quarter as Villeneuve stretched their lead (31-19).

It was only when she finished her scoring spree that the hosts started to score: Andreyeva from the three-point territory and Van Gorp by her work in the paint.

Villeneuve went into the interval leading (36-28) with Castro Marques leading the way with 18 points which included 3-of-6 from the land of many. She was not to score again in this match

Nantes-Rezé were more aggressive after the break and with Van Gough causing mayhem in the paint and nice picks from Moore, Villeneuve's advantage evaporated (41-38).

Géraldine Robert was as usual all over the court for Villeneuve. However it was Florence Lepron who got her side back on track with back to back scores.

Lepron scored the last points of the third quarter as Villeneuve regained the upper hand (52-41).

Then Villeneuve were to struggle all during the final period: Milijana Evtoukhovitch and Martina Rejchova, hampered by foul problems, were both to foul out. Jolene Anderson is almost back to full match fitness, yet was not having a good shooting day and Castro Marques stopped scoring.

Nantes took full advantage and came storming back. Simon Guillou, their head coach had warned his players about turnovers.

When his captain Marie Vicente Santa Cruz was guilty of a turnover with seven minutes to play he replaced her with Clarisse M'Paka.

Van Gorp continued to win trips to the free-throw line. Then M'Paka hit a trey to bring Nantes right back into the game (57-63).

Robert managed to score for Villeneuve but Van Gorp was on hand again for her 23rd points of the game, including her 7th success from the free-throw line.

With 31 seconds left after a nice run from Carine Brossias (right), Andreyeva (18 points) scored her 6th three-pointer of the evening (64-65)

Lepron who had missed a couple of free-throws was to make amends as she went 3-of-4 during the last 30 seconds to win the game for Villeneuve (68-64).

Moore finished the match with 10 points and 5 assists.

For Villeneuve Roberts (14 rebounds) and Lujubica Drljaca both scored 14 points.

LFB basketball news: Box score information has been removed from linking site.

Clermont-Ferrand made to sweat

For three quarters it was almost impossible to separate either team as both sides had their moments.

The two teams went into the final period level (49-49) and were still clued to each other at (55-55) with seven minutes to play.

Emma Randall then sparked Clermont into action with her one and only three-pointer of the match, which she quickly followed up with a two-point score. Claudia Das Neves was also to score from the land of many.

Clermont were not finished as Randall added a couple more points more to her account as Clermont led (66-55).

Claire Tomaszewski joined in the action for the advantage to increase (71-58).

Basket Landes had just under four minutes to find a way back into the game. But time was against them as they ended up losing (70-77).

For Clermont-Ferrand Randall led the scoring with 19 points and also collected 13 rebounds. Das Neves and Tomaszewski scored 18 and 16 points each.

For Basket Landes Ekaterina Dimitrova led the way with 20 points. Bineta Diouf finished with 16 points.

LFB basketball news: Box score information has been removed from linking site.

Carly Wilson made the difference

Australian players have been making the LFB basketball news regularly this season: Carly Wilson is once again the match winner for Challes-les-Eaux as they overcame Calais (62-55).

She scored the first 11 points for Challes during the final period including two three-pointers as her side traded basket for basket with Calais. By the time she finished scoring Challes led (56-52).

There was still four minutes. But the home defense of Challes-les-Eaux restricted COB to only 3 points.

Challes-les-Eaux played much better basketball than Calais for most of the game. However they spoilt all their good work by a high number of turnovers.

Both teams were active from the tip-off with Calais having the better start (6-2). Back to back threee-pointers from Emilie Duviviers and Wilson quickly brought Challes back into the game.

The two teams traded basket for basket with the teams still level (14-14) before Challes managed to nudge in front (18-14).

The second quarter was error prone and slow. Calais went into the interval leading (27-25) thanks to a buzzer beater from their captain Lina Brazdeïkyte.

Both sides tried to play more open basketball during the third period. As a result the advantage changed several times with Calais holding onto their advantage (46-45) going into the final period.

The last quarter belonged to Wilson as Challes-les-Eaux bounced back from their defeat in the EuroCup.

Silvia Bedu led the scoring with 17 points, followed by Wilson with 15 points. Martina Gyurcsi and Duvivier scored 11 and 10 points apiece.

Meanwhile Kirby Copeland had one of those days with 6 turnovers, 4 points and 4 assists. As a result she spent more time on the bench than on the court.

For Calais Aurélie Cibert was the only player in double digits with 12 points.

LFB basketball news: Box score information has been removed from linking site.

Tarbes love suspense

Tanisha Wright (right) scored what turned out to be the game winning shot 90 seconds from the end of the match. However it was the performance of another Australian playing for Aix, Renae Camino that made the LFB basketball news headlines.

In the first quarter of the match she scored 9 of her team's 16 points as Aix led after the first period (16-14). Isabelle Yacoubou-Dehoui was also on form with 8 points for Tarbes.

Aix scored the first 6 points of the second period to conclude a 9-0 run to open the biggest lead of the match (22-14). Tarbes found a way to stop Camino and also Hollie Grima from making an impact.

While Aix started to struggle offensively Wright started to find holes for her passes and N'Deye N'Diaye was the recipient of one such pass for Tarbes to take the lead (27-26).

Camino managed to score her only points of the second period for Aix to briefly regain the lead. Howver a Wright three-pointer took Tarbes into the locker room ahead.

The third period was technically brilliant and good for a coaching seminar but as a spectacle not very interesting: Both sides cancelled each other out with the lead changing every time a basket was scored.

Tarbes went in front (41-40) and stretched their lead (45-40) going into the final period.

Magalie Lacroix scored her first points of the game for Aix at the start of the final period.

Her team started to run the ball more and finally drew level again as Yacine Séné hit a trey (47-47) for her first points of the game.

Both teams then traded basket for basket before Aix broke the series with back to back scores from K. B. Sharp and Laurence Van Malderen (55-51).

Tarbes had a little over two minutes to save the game and Wright took full responsibility by hitting a three-pointer.

Liz Moeggenberg then caught Aix sleeping as she made an interception. The ball eventually fell into the hands of Wright who hit what turned out to be game-winning trey.

With the game coming to an end Sharp went on one of her runs and was fouled as she tried to level the scores. She hit her first free-throw and missed the second. Moeggenberg managed to get to the rebound first and Aix's chance had gone.

Wright and Yacoubou-Dehou (12 rebound) both finished on 16 points while Moeggenberg contributed 11 points.

For Aix Camino scored 16 points, while Sharp and Grima 13 and 10 points each.

LFB basketball news Box score information has been removed from linking site.

Bourges Basket in cruise control in the LFB

Bourges travelled to Montpellier and ended the game as a contest by the end of the first period.

Emméline Ndongue got Bourges off to a good start as they opened the game (9-4).

Pierre Vincent started to rotate his bench early. By the end of the first period Bourges had increased their advantage (27-12).

The second quarter was a more even affair with Bourges controlling the pace and not allowing Montpellier to put an run together.

The guests then went into the interval (45-29).

Bourges put on their suffocating defense system for almost eight minutes of the third period. They kept Montpellier scoreless to stretch their advantage (54-29).

Bourges conceded 5 points before the end of the period but went into the final quarter with a comfortable advantage (56-34).

They played the final quarter out with no urgency. All the players scored and played more than 14 minutes as they cruised to victory (70-48) against a tired looking Montpellier.

LFB basketball news: Box score information has been removed from linking site.

UHB keeping it simple

They changed their approach in the second half of the match and quickly got into their stride as Chioma Nnamaka hit the first of her two treys.

They moved the ball around and opened the first lead of significance (43-36).

UHB without Tiffany Stansbury struggled in the paint against Mame-Marie Sy-Diop and Valeriya Berezhynska.

When Amélie Pochet started to find her way to the basket Reims closed in on their hosts (47-52).

When Wambe was not scoring she dished out assists and UHB managed to regain their advantage (56-49) going into the final quarter.

UHB's three-point shooting in the final period made all the difference as they kept Reims at bay. Mélanie Plust's trey (61-54) was the start of the sequence that finally put the game out of reach of Reims.

By the time Vedrana Grgin Fonseca fired in another three-pointer (66-54), Reims had just five minutes to find a solution.UHB continued to fire in shots from beyond the arc as they paced themselves to victory (76-64).

Wambe finished with 19 points and 8 assits while Nnamaka scored 16 points including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc for UHB.For Reims Pochet led the scoring with 14 points.

LFB basketball news:Box score information has been removed from linking site.

Clermont-Ferrand 77-70 Basket Landes

Nantes-Rezé 64-68 Villeneuve d'Ascq

Mondeville 79-68 Asptt Arras

Challes-les-Eaux 62-55 COB Calais

Aix-en-Provence 56-57 Tarbes

Lattes-Montpellier 48-70 Bourges Basket

Union Hainaut Basket 76-64 SJS Reims