LFB Basketball news in mourning

Leilani Mitchell © Nick WelshLeilani Mitchell has made plenty of LFB basketball news headline in France this season for her work at Asptt Arras.

However she was absent for round 22 as she had to travel to Australia for the funeral of her mother.

Her mother had been ill for some time with breast cancer and Mitchell was in Australia at the beginning of the year.

Her team Asptt Arras ran out winners on the road against Union Hainaut Basket with Bernie Mosby scoring 31 points.

Lattes-Montpellier did not allow SJS Reims any chance and beat them by 29 points. Once again Bourges Basket took their time before overcoming Aix-en-Provence to win by 20 points.

Jolene Anderson top scored with 28 points as Villeneuve d’Ascq beat Challes-les-Eaux while clutch three-point shooting by Frida Eldebrink allowed Tarbes to get by Mondeville.

COB Calais was grateful to the scoring of Joyce Cousseins-Smith and Mariame Dia as they edged past Clermont-Ferrand.

You will be able to read more LFB basketball news and check the statistics for each match by clicking on the following links or scrolling down the page:

Union Hainaut Basket 67-68 Asptt Arras

Lattes-Montpellier 87-58 SJS Reims

Mondeville 68-77 Tarbes

Nantes Rezé 53-71 Basket Landes

Villeneuve d'Ascq 79-63 Challes-les-Eaux

Clermont-Ferrand 82-88 COB Calais

Aix-en-Provence 50-68 Bourges Basket


Bernie Mosby firing past UHB

Bernie Mosby © Ligue Féminine de BasketBallBernie Mosby scored 13 points from a total of 20 points for Arras as they led (20-11) by the end of the first period.

In the third period she hit a period-ending three-point buzzer shot for her 26th point of the match.

She then scored what turned out to be the winning shot for her 31st point of the match. She also had 11 rebounds, made 3 steals and had 2 assists.

Her display was not perfect as she also had 7 turnovers. All the same she was the match winner.

Despite Mosby's dominance in the game for Arras it was Union Hainault Basket that had the chance with five seconds left in the game to win the match.

Bintou Diémé managed to intercept a poor pass by Arras and was on her way up the court. She then made a pass which was cut offf by Sarah Michel for Arras and the chance was gone.

Union will be without Kathy Wambe for the rest of the season. They were also to lose Tiffany Stansbury after only four minutes of play as she turned her ankle.

Michel, who is on loan from UHB, and Mosby kept their hosts busy as they led (20-11) after the first period.Chioma Nnamaka © Ligue Féminine de BasketBall

UHB improved during the second period and came back into the match with Chioma Nnamaka (right) scoring three consecutive three-pointers as Union Basket went into the interval trailing by a single point (38-39).

Union took the lead early in the third period as Clémence Beikes stepped up offensively to regain the advantage. UHB continued to apply pressure.

Laëtitia Kamba, for the second time this season but the first in the LFB, hit a three-pointer. UHB appeared to have regained control (55-47) with 29 minutes played.

Unfortunately UHB hit the self-destruct button and allowed Arras to score the last 6 points which included a three-point buzzer shot from Mosby.

Arras continued to battle during the final period which resulted in eight players getting on the score sheet as they beat UHB for the second time this season by a single point.

Michel scored 14 points, made 5 steals and dished out 4 assists and was the only player in this match to play for the 40 minutes.Nnamaka led the scoring for UHB with 16 points.

LFB basketball news Box Score


Montpellier too good for SJS Reims

Montpellier outclassed Reims in all sectors of the game as they cruised to victory (87-58) with nobody playing more than 29 minutes.

The suspense lasted only 10 minutes with Montpellier edging the first period (17-15).

Aurélie Bonnan© Ligue Féminine de BasketBallThey then stepped on the accelerator at the start of the second quarter with a 9-0 run as they quickly opened up a gap (32-18).

Aurélie Bonnan did not miss during the first half of the match with 15 points shooting 7-of-7 from the field as Montpellier went into the locker room leading (43-26).

Montpellier stretched their lead gradually during the third period and went into the final period ahead (67-41).

They had a maximum lead of 31 points at one stage but ended up winning by 29 points with Bonnan leading the way with 19 points and 6 assists.

LFB basketball news Box Score


Frida Eldebrink ended the contest with three three-pointers

Tarbes once again got off to a bad start and trailed (10-1) with just over five minuets played in the game. However Mondeville was not able to increase their advantage and only led (18-13) by the end of the first period.

Tarbes were not playing at their best but managed to take the lead briefly as Tanisha Wright once again came up with some magic (27-26) with 13 minutes played.

However Paoline Salagnac (17 points in the first half), the captain from Mondeville, was not ready to let Tarbes have it so easy as she became the catalyst in an 8-0 run by the home side.

In addition Wright picked up her third foul and Isabelle Yacoubou-Dehoui was having a nightmare of a game as Mondeville went into the locker room leading (38-31).

Tarbes was a different team after the break and Yacoubou-Dehoui was back on form, which resulted in a 9-0 start for Tarbes.

Wright's foul problems continued as she picked up her fourth one with less than 25 minutes played.

Isis Arrondo © Ligue Féminine de BasketBallWhile she returned to the bench it was Isis Arrondo (right) and Yacoubou-Dehoui who decided to show their skill from beyond the arc as Tarbes increased their lead (46-42).

Lenae Williams was not having a good shooting day but finally connected from beyond the arc.

Furthermore with Ingrid Tanqueray hitting the target twice from three-point land, Mondeville went into the final period in front (56-53).

Tarbes were quick out of the starting block in the final period and scored 6 points. However they were to lose the advantage as Wright was called for charging.

Hence she had to leave the game for good with her fifth foul with seven minutes to play.

Polina Tzekova © Ligue Féminine de BasketBallMondeville were unable to capitalise and fell behind as veteran Polina Tzekova (left) hit a jumper that put Tarbes in the lead for good (64-62).

Yacoubou-Dehoui was to score her 22nd point of the game before Frida Eldebrink took over the show with three three-pointers to finish the game.

The official statistics were not available by the end of the game. However the link for the stats are included at the end of this story.


Tarbes: Yacoubou-Dehoui 22 points and 10 rebounds, Eldebrink 17 points, Wright 13 points and 4 assists and Tzekova 10 points

Mondeville : Salagnac 22 points and Jennifer Digbeu 11 points

LFB basketball news Box Score


Nantes-Rezé back in NF1

The LFB basketball news from Nantes-Rezé is that they will not know until the end of the season if they are to play in NF1 next season.

Their defeat against Basket Landes (53-71) has condemned them to relegation as they cannot qualify for the LFB challenge round play-offs.

Nantes-Rezé's return to their home court in Arthur-Dugast did not end the way they had hoped after a promising start to the match.

With six minutes played the two teams were tired (8-8). But then Nantes-Rezé went to sleep for three minuets and were hit 11-2 to trail (10-19) by the end of the first period.Marion Laborde © Ligue Féminine de BasketBall

Although the second period was evenly contested, Nantes went into the locker room further behind (27-35).

Basket Landes stepped up during the third period and put an end to the contest by the end of the quarter leading (58-41).

The guests controlled the rest of the game to win the match (71-53) with Marion Laborde (right) leading the way with 20 points.

Jessica Moore scored 16 points for the hosts.

LFB basketball news Box Score


Jolene Anderson had one of those days

Jolene Anderson © Ligue Féminine de BasketBallThere are days that you can do no wrong from long distance and for Jolene Anderson, this was one of those matches.

She scored 16 points in the first half with 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. She scored 12 points in the second half of the game but only took one shot from beyond the arc, which she made.

She also had 5 assists to her credit. One of the reasons that Anderson was signed by Abdou N'Diaye was her outside shooting ability.


Challes-les-Eaux won the first encounter between the two teams and were quickly in their stride with three-pointers by Carly Wilson and Kirby Copeland to lead (6-2) early in the game.

Villeneuve then came into the game and then both teams trading baskets for a while with the guests holding onto the lead (17-13).

Anderson fired in a couple of three-pointer as Villenueve finished the quarter with an 11-0 run to win the first period (24-17).

The game was fast and furious with Villeneuve increasing their lead (43-33) by the interval.

Challes-les-Eaux managed to reduce their deficit to 3 points during the third period (55-58) but were unable to get any closer.

Villeneuve switched to turbo power during the final period to win comfortably (79-63). They are now two games clear of the teams in fourth place.

Robert scored 18 points for Villeneuve while Copeland led the way with 15 points for Challes-les Eaux.

LFB basketball news Box Score


Mariame Dia and Joyce Cousseins-Smith saving Calais

Joyce Cousseins-Smith © Ligue Féminine de BasketBallJoyce Cousseins-Smith (right) has had to wait a long time for her chance to shine in the LFB. She was loaned out by Montpellier two seasons ago to FC Lyon to play in NF1. Last season she spent most of her time on the bench with Aix-en-Provence.

With Sara Leemans not 100% fit and Lauren Neaves not able to play including Aurélie Cibert in foul problems early on, Cousseins-Smith took her chance.

She led the scoring with 20 points. She also dished out 9 assists and made 4 steals as Calais edged out Clermont-Ferrand (88-82).

Mariame Dia © Ligue Féminine de BasketBallMariame Dia (left) tied the game for the final time (71-71) with just under six minutes to play.

She later fouled out as the game reached its high point.

Dia scored 17 points and took 9 rebounds as she replaced Neaves in the starting line-up.

For Clermont-Ferrand it was another disappointment as they allowed the game to escape them during the last five minutes.

With Claudia Das Neves (25 points) and with the pair Anaël Lardy (16 points) and Elena Nikipolskaïa (19 points) also firing offensively Clermont-Ferrand led (45-39) at the interval.

Olayinka Sanni scored 12 of her 16 points during the first half of the match for Calais. She got into foul trouble during the second half of the game to foul out during the final period.

Although Calais went into the last quarter ahead (64-62) they were to fall behind to their hosts (71-66) with seven minutes left to play.

Dia brought the two teams level and Sara Leemans put the COB in front for good with a three-pointer and the rest is history.

For Clermont-Ferrand the LFB basketball news this season has been about the financial status of the club. With Basket Landes winning, Clermont-Ferrand are now two games down and in serious relegation problems.

LFB basketball news Box Score


Bourges Basket taking their time but won as usual

Bourges Basket 2008-2009 © Ligue Féminine de BasketBall

Bourges Basket have not played the most exciting basketball this season but are the experts of wearing their opponents down.

They kept Hollie Grima scoreless for 18 minutes and made life difficult for K. B. Sharp by simply applying a suffocating zone defense system against Aix-en-Provence.

Emméline Ndongue scored the first 4 points of the game. She and Alessandra Santos De Oliveira did all the scoring for Bourges as they led (10-5).

Yacine Séné with a three-pointer and Magali Lacroix brought the teams on equal term (10-10) before Katarina Manic and Nora Bujdoso scored for Bourges to edge the first quarter (14-10).

Bourges Basket increased their lead (21-13) by the 13th minute. Bourges, playing without Nwal Endéné Miyem, were forced to make tactical changes.

This resulted in Cathy Melain playing as a power forward as they went into the locker room with an advantage (34-27).

Aix battled to break the Bourges Basket zone defense with little success. They left themselves exposed in defense for Céline Dumerc and Melain to fire in shots from the land of many as Bourges' lead grew (50-39).

Bourges continued in the same way during the final period. Aix finally resigned allowing Bourges Basket to walk away with the victory (68-48).

LFB basketball news Box Score


LFB Basketball News from round 21

LFB Basketball News from round 20

Return from LFB basketball news to women playing basketball blog

Return from LFB basketball news from around the clubs to LFB news

LFB basketball news picture credits:
Nick Welsh
Ligue Féminine de BasketBall

Date created: 27 March 2009


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