Overseas Update: Sparks, Sky Players Win Titles
As the WNBA season nears, more and more of the league’s players are wrapping up seasons overseas before making the trek back home for training camp. The Los Angeles Sparks enter 2015 as a talented team looking to compete with the top teams in the West. The Chicago Sky are trying make another run at the title after falling to the Phoenix Mercury in the 2014 WNBA Finals.
But before they begin that journey, two players from the Sparks and the Sky got a taste of postseason glory overseas. Sparks center Jantel Lavender and Sky teammates Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley helped lead Wisla Can-Pack to the Polish league championship.
The Polish champs knocked off Artego Bydgoszcz, 89-68, on the road to claim the title. Lavender scored 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in the decisive game. The title caps off a season that earned Lavender numerous awards after posting a team-high average of 18.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.
Lavender was named the All-Polish TBLK Player of the Year, Center of the Year and Import of the Year, as well as making the All-Polish TBLK First Team and All-Imports Team.
Latvian guard Elina Babkina, who signed with the Sparks during the offseason, also won a championship with her overseas team. Babkina played for Girona in the Spanish League and won the title after knocking off Avenida.
Elsewhere, Minnesota Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen helped push her team to the Turkish league finals. Agu Spor Kulubu knocked off Tina Charles’ Fenerbahce team in the best-of-five series. Whalen scored 14 points, while Charles tallied six points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Indiana Fever guard Shavonte Zellous added 23 points and six rebounds for Fenerbahce.
Agu Spor Kulubu will face powerhouse Galatasaray in the finals. Atlanta Dream forward Sancho Lyttle scored eight points and had 11 rebounds as Galatasaray knocked off Adana Aski.
In Russia, Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner scored 28 points and hauled in 12 rebounds in Nadezdha’s first game in the Russian league finals against UMMC Ekaterinburg. Lynx guard Anna Cruz added 10 points for Nadezdha.
Sparks forward Candace Parker recorded a double-double in the second game of the series on April 26, scoring 11 points and pulling down 10 rebounds as UMMC Ekaterinburg evened the series. Sparks center Sandrine Gruda added 20 points and 7 rebounds.
The final game is set for Wednesday.
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