Athinaikos Will Move On

With a win Wednesday over Greek rivals Panionios (their second head-to-head meeting this week), Athinaikos has assured itself a spot in the Round of 32 in EuroCup action. At 4-0, Athinaikos can finish no worse than second in Group E. Katie Gearlds scored 10 points in a 73-56 win that was a better offensive showing than it sounds, with Athinaikos scoring 73 in just 63 possessions, a very slow pace.

In the day's other EuroCup action, Tarbes defeated Olivais Coimbra 88-78 to stay undefeated on the season. Tarbes will finish no worse than tied for first in their group and is also assured of moving on. Tanisha Lovely Wright, as she's called on FIBAEurope.com, led the way, scoring 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, handing out eight assists, grabbing five rebounds and pilfering four steals with one turnover in 31 minutes. Not a bad day at the office.

In the lone Euroleague game of the day involving Storm players (ZVVZ USK Praha does not play until tomorrow), Spartak stayed strong with a 93-70 win over Lattes Montpellier. Spartak led 27-14 after one quarter, and Lattes was never able to get much closer despite playing even in the second half.

Spartak was on fire from downtown, canning 15 triples in 29 attempts, while Lattes shot 3-of-16 from beyond the arc. Both Sue Bird (3-of-5 on threes) and Lauren Jackson (2-of-3) played a role, while Diana Taurasi knocked down five triples in nine attempts. Bird finished with nine points and eight assists, while Jackson had 12 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes of action. Center Sylvia Fowles led Spartak inside, scoring 25 points and grabbing 17 rebounds, nine of them at the offensive end.

Elsewhere, TEO Vilnius - the one squad to knock off Spartak this year - won a showdown with Maxima Broker Kosice to remain tied with Spartak atop Group D at 4-1.