Photo: Nikola Krawczyk
The hosts – Polonia Warszawa – will step on the floor to face a Lithuanian vice-champion Neptūnas Klaipeda in the first semifinal on Saturday, March 4, at the Centrum Sportu Wilanow.
Quick facts: Polonia Warszawa finished the regular season with a 7-0 record, winning their games by average margin of 7.9 points. Neptūnas Klaipeda registered a 4-3 record and won all four games against lower ranked teams. Polonia defeated Neptūnas, 85-75.
What`s at stake
Both teams are eyeing their first EWBL final. Polonia Warszawa may become the second team from Poland to reach the final after Basket 90 Gdynia did it in 2016. Neptūnas Klaipeda may become the first team from Lithunia to play in the final.
Polonia Warszawa advance to the Energa BLK playoffs
Polonia Warszawa has a 9-10 record for the 7th place in the standings with one game left in the Energa Basket Liga Kobiet regular season.
Maciej Gordon`s team won the key game against Energa Torun, 82-66, on February 4, to secure a playoff spot.
Czarne Koszule recently dropped season series against Sleza Wroclaw (1-1, +9) and need to win at Pruszkow on March 8 in order to secure the seventh place.
The sixth place is out of reach as Polonia lost both games against Zaglebie Sosnowiec.
Wroclaw is hosting a EuroLeague Women team Polkowice on March 4 and will play at #11 Bydgoszcz on March 8.
The seventh seed – most likely – will face Polkowice in the quarterfinals.
Polkowice handed a single loss to league leader Gorzow Wielkopolski but lost the games at Arka Gdynia and AZS UMCS Lublin.
The favorites can finish first only if they register two victories and Gorzow drops both remaining games.
Four Polonia players average double figures in the Energa BLK – Andreona Keys (13.4 points), Jessica Jackson (12.7), Angeliki Vintsilaiou (10.6) and Martyna Leszczynska (10.0 points).
The main rotation players include Anna Pawlowska (8.7 points), Andjelina Radič (7.0) and Klaudia Sosnowska (6.8 points).
Everyone may shoot the ball from the deep but only Radič averages more than one three pointer per game.
The team is well balanced but sometimes may have not enough firepower from the three point line.
Vintsilaou is a premiere playmaker and defender but she missed several weeks of action in December and January.
Her minutes increased after the national team break – Vintsilaiou scored 23 points against Sleza Wroclaw on February 26.
Neptūnas Klaipeda: dangerous yet inconsistent
Neptūnas Klaipeda are playoffs bound in the Betsafe Women`s Baltic Basketball league but the seeding is far from certain.
The regular season will finish on Sunday, March 19, and the Final Four will be played on April 1-2.
Martynas Airošius team has a 12-6 record and four games left in the regular season.
Neptūnas are dangerous yet inconsistent.
Team averages 82,5 points and trail only to Kibirkštis Vilnius in field goal percentage (46,18%).
Neptūnas have attempted 25 three pointers on average.
The rebounding is not as good as the Neptūnas players have secured 40,6 boards on average for the seventh place in the league.
Neptūnas move the ball well and have a lot of shooters.
Six players average nine points or more – Viktoria Balaban (15.4 points), Linda Victorine Ndoli (12.1), Agne Černeckyte (11.3), Dalia Donskichyte (9.8), Uliana Datsko (9.7) and Ligita Tamutyte (6.4).
Donskichyte averages 6.4 assists while Černeckyte follows with 4.1 assists.
Balaban is the most dangerous shooter and Ndoli – the main force under the basket.
Neptūnas won the WBBL home stand against Šiauliai/Vilmers, 91-78, on Monday, February 27.
Donskichyte registered nine points and 12 assists.
Player statistics
Andreona Keys averages 13.3 points per game for the 10th place.
Angeliki Vintsilaiou averages 4.6 assists per game for the fourth place.
Andjelina Radič and Angeliki Vintsilaiou average 2.0 steals per game.
Linda Victorine Ndoli is the fifth best rebounder with 9.0 rebounds per game.
Dalia Donskichyte is the fourth best player in steals made – 2.4 per game.
Agne Černeckyte is the best three point shooter with 39.5% accuracy.
Linda Victorine Ndoli has the best two point shooting percentage with 58.5%.
Team statistics
Polonia Warszawa is the first in two point shooting percentage with 46,5%, while Neptūnas Klaipeda tie the second place with 46,1%.
Neptūnas is the first in three pointer shooting percentage with 33,3%, while Polonia occupy the seventh place with 25,4%.
Polonia is the second best in defensive rebounds (27,6) and offensive boards (12,4).
Neptūnas is the eighth in defensive rebounds (21,6) and the seventh in offensive boards (7,9).
Polonia lead the table in free throw percentage with 80,1%.
Warsaw team averages 76,5 points for the second place, while Klaipeda is in the sixth position with 65,7 points.
Suzuki Puchar Polski
The 2023 Suzuki Puchar Polski – Polish Cup – was played on February 24-26.
BC Polkowice won the Cup after a 94-68 success against Gorzow Wielkopolski.