Piešťanské Čajky have advanced to the Slovak Extraliga semifinals after a 2-0 success in the play-off series against Slovanka Bratislava on March 16, 2022.
Peter Jankovič`s team finished the regular season with a 16-4 record on March 3.
The Extraliga season was split in two parts.
During the first part, eight teams played a two round tournament (14 games).
Čajky finished second with a 12-2 record just behind MBK Ružomberok (14-0).
The four best teams – also Young Angels Košice (10-4) and ŠKP 08 Banska Bystrica (8-6) – played two more rounds (six games) just like the next four teams.
MBK Ružomberok – a former two time EuroLeague Women champion thanks to Slovak legend and a current USK Praha coach Natalia Hejkova – won the regular season with a 18-2 record.
Ružomberok suffered a 54-58 home loss at the hands of Čajky on January 15, 2022.
Another Čajky success came on February 23, 2022, with a 69-54 home win.
The Seagulls, however, lost both New Year games against the Young Angels Košice – a 74-75 home defeat on January 8 and a 52-62 road loss on Janyary 29.
Čajky finished with a 16-4 record, including a 8-4 ratio against Top 4 teams.
Ružomberok has a 10-2 record in the top 4 battles (overall 18-2), while the Young Angels finished third with a 6-6 balance (overall 14-6).
Piešťanské Čajky faced the seventh seeded Slovanka Bratislava (4-16) in the quarterfinals.
There were no surprises.
The Seagulls destroyed Slovanka at home 116-35 and on the road 96-42 for a 2-0 win in the best-of-three series.
Piešťanské Čajky will meet the Young Angels Košice in the semifinal series.
Čajky extended roster features 16 players from six countries – 10 from Slovakia, two from USA, one from Czech Republic, Croatia, Lithuania and Finland.
American power forward Ke`Shunan James (Murray State 2014-2018, Ohio Valley Conference) last season played for Ukrainian club Kamianske Prometey.
A Tennessee native won the 2021 bronze medal.
American center from Gurnee, Illinois – Sarah Ashley Boothe – played for the famous coach Tara VanDerveer and shared the floor with Ogwumike sisters – the 2018 World Cup winner Nneka and ESPN analyst Chiney.
Boothe played in the San Francisco Bay area and graduated from Stanford in 2012.
Eight players – Gabriela Andelova (Czech Republic), Matea Tadič (Croatia), Alexandra Haškova, Nina Gavlakova, Alica Moravčikova, Natalia Martiškova, Ke`Shunan James and Sarah Ashley Boothe – entered the court on Wednesday.
Martina Dovčikova, Tereza Vandlikova and Magdalena Valova received a playing time on March 12.
FINAL FOUR 2022
Saturday, March 19, semifinals
16:00 Žabiny Brno – SBŠ Ostrava
18:30 Piešťanské Čajky – Kibirkštis Vilnius
Sunday, March 20, medal games
13:30 Bronze medal game
16:00 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 due to pandemic (Žabiny Brno-Tsmoki, Novosibirsk-Pieštany)
Maladziechna 2021: Horizont Minsk, Nika Syktyvkar, TTT Rīga, Prometey Kamianske
FORMAT
Playoffs: canceled
A1 – B4, A2 – B3, B2 – A3, B1 – A4
Final Four: March 19-20, 2022
Our geography
EWBL member countries so far: Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Turkey.
Follow us on
Website www.ewbl.eu
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EWBL
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/EWBLLive
Live TV http://ewbl.eu/live-tv/
#StrongTogether #EWBL #Season7
Comments