The FIBA World Cup for Women’s Clubs has reached the knockout stages in Samara, Russia and all 3 European clubs have advanced to the semi-finals along with the WNBA select team.

Both Ekaterinburg and Valenciennes finished preliminary round play with unbeaten records in Groups A and B respectively.

Ekaterinburg had an impressive victory in their last game over the WNBA Select team. It was a low scoring affair, as both teams struggled with their shooting. The WNBA stars hit just 28% of all their shots while Ekaterinburg converted 37%.

The Russian champions rode out a strong 1st quarter performance (25-14) and maintained the lead for the whole contest to finish 68-54 victors.

Both teams advance to the semi-finals.

Ekaterinburg forward DeLisha Milton was the dominant player on the night, pouring in 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. US legend Sheryl Swoopes added 16 points for the Russians.

Kara Lawson was the only WNBA player to make it into double figures as she scored 11 points.

In Group B Valenciennes completed their schedule with a 104-26 win over the hapless African champions, Mozambique de Mambas.

The Africans had a decent first 10 minutes and trailed 14-23 at the end of the quarter.

However, the wheels fell off afterwards and they were only able to score 12 points in the next 3 quarters combined.

		Samara's Ilona Korstine

Ann Wauters continued her stellar play to lead all scorers with 18 points. Eva Pelikonava, Audrey Sauret and Johanne Gomis added 15 points apiece.

Home team Samara also finished Group B on a strong note, defeating the Lauren Jackson led Canberra Capitals 72-56.

Jackson had  26 points and 11 rebounds for her side, but it was not enough to prevent defeat.

After a tied 1st quarter (14-14), Samara cut loose in the next 2 periods to outscore the Australians by 15 points and claim control of the game.

Olga Arteshina led Samara with 19 points and was ably assisted by center Maria Stepanova who added 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Samara match up with Ekaterinburg in an all-Russian semi-final at 20:30 (local time) on Saturday 18th October. Valenciennes take on the WNBA Select Team at 17:30.

Full Tournament Results and Standings