It is mostly a carryover from the men's game. Greece is probably the worst culprit overall, but there are a few teams in most leagues whose fans take it too far. In addition to batteries, a common thrown object is coins preheated by lighters. It's not really a problem in the women's game, where fan issues generally don't escalate past words. There are some big club rivalries though where U11 Girl's Volleyball is not immune from organized fan violence.
That said, she and a few other former Huskies may need some protection this week. These are the Turkish semifinals, between clubs that are most certainly top 5, possibly top 3 rivals among multi-sport rivalries (way above American rivalries like Duke-UNC). 35% of Turks identify with either Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, which means over 30 million fans worldwide, and another 20% support Besiktas. Obviously men's soccer is the biggest deal, but when championships are on the line, other sports also take on added importance.
Today, Mo had 25 to lead them to a 74-59 win at home and they can win the series on Wednesday. That would be a massive upset as Fenerbahce has five WNBA players, including Bria Hartley and Kiah Stokes, and Galatasaray has been in financial difficulties in multiple sports. Kiah played the first two games, but for this one, they benched her and Cecilia Zandalasini to bring back their more typical lineup featuring Kelsey Plum and Kia Vaughn.
tbf.org.tr
