On Wednesday evening, Janel McCarville and Cathrine Kraayeveld were put in precarious positions. After spending the past WNBA season as teammates in the Liberty’s frontcourt, the duo found themselves playing for opposing squads in first-round action at the FIBA EuroLeague Women’s 2008 Tournament. The match-up was tightly contested throughout, but in the end, McCarville’s Kosice (Slovakia) defeated Kraayeveld’s Dexia Namur (Belgium) 70-62.

McCarville was instrumental in propelling the Kosice to victory, scoring eight points, snagging a team-high nine rebounds and five steals. Down the stretch, she also sealed the win with two clutch free throws that put her team ahead. With the win, the Slovakians earned its first victory of the young season, with a record of 1-1.

Despite the loss, Kraayeveld kept her squad in the game with a stellar outing, netting a team-high 16 points on 6-11 shooting, including four three-pointers. She also grabbed a game-high 10 boards. For the tournament, Kraayeveld is averaging an impressive 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds.

In what should be an equally as exciting match, the teams will meet again on December 20th.

Find out what it was like for the Liberty teammates to square off against each other in McCarville’s latest overseas blog entry.

Compiled by Christopher Chin