Photo: Levharti Chomutov
The best team from Ukraine – Frankivsk Prykarpattya – will face a 2023 Czech Cup finalist Levharti Chomutov in the second semifinal on Saturday, March 4, at the Centrum Sportu Wilanow.
Quick facts: Levharti Chomutov finished second in the regular season with a 4-3 record, while playing two away games without EWBL scoring record holder Najai Wynn-Pollard. Frankivsk Prykarpattya entered the competition in the last moment to post four wins in seven games.
What`s at stake
Levharti Chomutov may become the second Czech team in the EWBL final after Žabiny Brno walked all the way in 2022. Frankivsk Prykarpattya may become the first team from Ukraine in the EWBL final.
Levharti Chomutov: fresh off Czech Cup success
Jozef Rešetár`s team earned a silver medal at the 2023 Czech Cup, while playing on the home floor.
Levharti defeated Slovanka Praha in the semifinal, 77-70, while Žabiny Brno overpowered SBŠ Ostrava, 97-56.
The 2022 EWBL champions took upper hand in the final, 88-66, and Natálie Stoupalová was named the Most Valuable Player.
Petra Záplatová led the winners with 21 points. Michaela Krejzová scored 22 points for Chomutov, while Najai Wynn-Pollard chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Levharti Chomutov occupy the fourth place in the Chance ŽBL standings, trailing only to EuroLeague Women and EuroCup Women teams – USK Praha, Žabiny Brno and KP Brno.
Najai Wynn-Pollard average 20.7 points in 29.8 minutes of play.
She also leads the team in rebounds (9.1) and two points shooting accuracy with 53,1%.
The other top scorers include Valentýna Kadlecová (13.2), Michaela Krejzová (10.8), Monika Fučíková (8.4) and Monika Satoranská (8.1).
Do not forget a Czech Olympian Kateřina Bartoňová.
She runs the point and is the EWBL record holder in assists made (17).
Bartoňová averages 3,7 points and 5,8 assists.
There are more young guns in the team except Kadlecová and Fučíková – a shooting guard Jesika Maud Hibalová, as well as two centers Lucie Ceralová and Anastasiia Kovtun from Ukraine.
Frankivsk Prykarpattya: Big Three ready to deliver
Yurii Protsiyk`s team has the impressive trio of players.
Krystyna Filevich, Oksana Mollova and center Taisiia Udodenko have guided Ivanofrankivsk to a 17-0 record in the Ukraine`s Superleague.
Prykarpattya recently played five games in six days and scored five victories with big margins on February 17-22.
The games are played in the so-called bubbles due to the war which goes on for more than 370 days.
Oksana Mollova won the MVP award for February, while averaging 21,2 points and 7,3 rebounds for an efficiency rating of 30,8.
The Big Three play limited minutes in the Superleague.
Filevich has averaged 24:07 minutes in 10 games, Mollova – 24:56 minutes in eight games and Udodenko – 21:03 minutes in nine games.
Player statistics
Najai Wynn-Pollard is the best scorer of the regular season, averaging 21,2 points per game.
Katerina Bartoňová leads the league in assists made, with 8,1 per game.
Valentýna Kadlecová is the ninth best scorer with 14,0 points.
Najai Wynn-Pollard ties the fifth place in rebounds, averaging 9,0 boards per game.
Monika Fučíková is in the eighth place in three point shooting accuracy with 36,4%.
Oksana Mollova and Krystyna Filevich tie the second place in the scorers list with 18,7 points each.
Taisiia Udodenko is in the seventh place with 14,3 points per game.
Udodenko is the best rebounder as she has registered 10,6 boards per game.
Taisiia Udodenko is in the first place with 1,9 blocked shots per game.
Oksana Mollova is the third best rebounder with 9,1 boards.
She is also the second best shooter from the three point line with 38,8%.
Udodenko is in the sixth position with 37,1% three pointers made.
Olha Alekseichyk ties the sixth place in steals made with 2,3 steals per game.
Team statistics
Levharti Chomutov is the first team in scoring, averaging 81,4 points per game.
Frankivsk Prykarpattya is the third in scoring with 71,3 points per game.
Levharti Chomutov is the first in defensive rebounds (27.9) and the fourth in offensive boards (11.9).
Frankivsk Prykarpattya is the fifth in defensive rebounds (24.4) and tie the sixth place in offensive boards (10.3).
Levharti Chomutov is the second best team in assists made, with 19.1 per game.
Levharti Chomutov is in the fifth place in two point shooting accuracy with 44,5%.
Frankivsk Prykarpattya is in the foruth place in two point shooting accuracy with 45,7%.
Levharti Chomutov tie the fourth place in three point shooting accuracy with 29,8%.
Frankivsk Prykarpattya is in the second place in three point shooting accuracy with 31,4%.
SCHEDULE (local time, GMT+2h)
Saturday, March 4, semifinals
15:00 SKK Polonia Warszawa – BC Neptūnas Klaipeda
17:30 BC Frankivsk Prykarpattya – BK Levharti Chomutov
Sunday, March 5, medal games
11:00 Bronze medal game
13:30 Final
Final Four history
Rīga 2016: TTT Rīga, Basket 90 Gdynia, Astana Tigers, Tsmoki Minsk
Košice 2017: Good Angels Košice, TTT Rīga, Dynamo Moscow, Basket 90 Gdynia
Rīga 2018: Good Angels Košice, TTT Rīga, Dynamo Moscow, Udominate Basket
Rostov on Don 2019: TTT Rīga, Tsmoki Minsk, Rostov Don SFEDU, Žabiny Brno
Brno 2020: season five cancelled (Žabiny Brno-Tsmoki, Novosibirsk-Pieštany)
Maladziechna 2021: Horizont Minsk, Nika Syktyvkar, TTT Rīga, Prometey Kamianske
Pieštany 2022: Žabiny Brno, Pieštanske Čajky, Kibirkštis Vilnius, SBŠ Ostrava
Warszawa 2023: loading...