The reigning national champions, UMMC women’s basketball team, captured the Russian Cup for the fourth straight year and for the 13th time overall. In the championship game of the Final Four, held in Syktyvkar, the Yekaterinburg side delivered a dominant performance, defeating tournament hosts Nika by a convincing 89-55 margin.

For more than three and a half years, Russian women’s basketball has seen no team even close to matching UMMC’s level. The Yekaterinburg club has been racking up titles one after another - the Premier League championship, the Russian Cup, and the Russian SuperCup. Had the team continued to compete on the international stage, as they did before 2022, the club’s trophy collection would almost certainly be even larger. Beyond results on the court, UMMC also leads the league in another key area: home attendance. The club ranks first by a substantial margin, far ahead of its closest competitors. This sustained dominance reflects not only the work of the coaching staff and the recruitment department, but also the strength of the organization’s overall management.

UMMC’s road to the Russian Cup this season began in the quarterfinals, where they beat Dynamo Moscow twice, 105–64 away and 102–68 at home, thus securing a place in the Final Four. At the decisive stage in the semifinals, UMMC left MBA-MGUSiT Moscow with no chance, cruising to a 101–73 victory. The team then capped off their campaign with a convincing win over the hosts in Syktyvkar, 89–55.

In the semifinals, the top scorers for UMMC were Maria Klyundikova (maiden name - Vadeeva) with 19 points, naturalized American Alexandria Bentley, representing the Belarus national team (19 points), Anastasia Olairi Kosu (17), and Serbian Jovana Nogic (13). The other semifinal proved to be much tighter. Nika, spurred on by their home crowd, overcame a deficit in the final quarter to defeat Dynamo Kursk 70–63. In the championship game, the Syktyvkar team began to falter under UMMC’s pressure as early as the second quarter, heading into halftime trailing by 15 points (26–41). From there, Yekaterinburg methodically extended their lead, displaying basketball that was not only spectacular but also highly effective.

In the championship game, UMMC head coach Dmitrii Donskov played all ten players on the roster, distributing minutes fairly so that no one logged fewer than 15 minutes of actual game time. Double-digit scoring was achieved by Alexandria Bentley (24 points), Maria Klyundikova (14), Jovana Nogic (11), Slovenian Eva Lisec (11), and Anastasia Olairi Kosu (10). Bentley also contributed five successful long-range shots. As for Nika, the team also features candidates for the Russian national team and high-level international players: American Destanni Henderson, with three years of experience in the overseas WNBA, and Brazilian national team member Izabela Ramona Lyra Masedo, a two-time Olympian. Thus, UMMC’s decisive win over Nika in the final should not be seen as a sign of weakness on the part of the Syktyvkar team, but rather as another demonstration of the strength and dominance of the Yekaterinburg club.

At UMMC, the club combines a highly professional coaching staff with competent, sports-savvy management led by club president Andrey Kozitsyn and vice president Igor Kudryashkin. For many years, they have provided the team with the support necessary to achieve the highest sporting results.

The Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) and the tournament organizers named UMMC center Maria Klyundikova the Most Valuable Player of the Final Four. The All-Tournament Team also included her teammate Alexandria Bentley, along with Destanni Henderson and Raisa Musina (both from Nika), Nina Glonti (Dynamo Kursk), and Maria Krymova (MBA-MGUSiT).   

Here is the full list of UMMC players who participated in the 2025/26 Russian Cup games, ranked by total points scored: Alexandria Bentley (87 points – 4 games), Maria Klyundikova (60 – 4), Zhosselina Maiga (40 – 4), Megan Walker (36 – 3), Anastasiia Shilova (32 – 4), Anastasia Olairi Kosu (27 – 2), Maryia Papova (26 – 3), Eva Lisec (25 – 3), Jovana Nogic (24 – 2), Viktoriia Tretyakova (21 – 4), Karina Nizamova (17 – 4), Svetlana Samusheva (2 – 1), and Sofia Golubeva (0 – 1).   

Head coach Dmitrii Donskov is assisted by his coaching staff, including two-time Olympic champion Olga Korosteleva (Barysheva), Denis Sevastjanov, and Alexandr Lisichkin. The team’s medical staff comprises doctor Ruslan Latypov and physiotherapist Igor V’yukhin.

Source: Rossiyskaya gazeta