Just two more weeks of EuroLeague Women group play remain, and this is when the competition’s regular season reaches its peak.
There are still six play-in berths up for grabs (three in Group E and three in Group F),
but with such little time remaining to earn then, every team that’s still in the hunt will need to bring their best if they’re going to qualify.
This sets up several high-stakes games with massive postseason implications.
Of particular interest is Group E, where there’s currently a three-way tie for third place: Tango Bourges Basket, ZVVZ USK Praha and Beretta Famila Schio are all 6-4, and they’re all plenty good enough to make the play-ins, but only two of them will be able to sneak in. Needless to say, this week’s game between Praha and Schio will be of the utmost importance for everyone involved.
Meanwhile, in Group F, Valencia Basket Club (6-4) will look to even things up against Basket Landes (7-3), and Umana Reyer Venezia (5-5) will simply be trying to keep its play-in hopes alive. Then there’s Fenerbahçe Opet (9-1), who can clinch the league’s best regular-season record with a win over Casademont Zaragoza (6-4). Here’s everything you’ll want to watch for when this week’s games begin.
Wednesday, January 28
Casademont Zaragoza (6-4) vs. Fenerbahçe Opet (9-1)
- When: 12 p.m. ET
- Where: Metro Energy Sports Hall in Istanbul, Turkey
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Carla Leite, Stephanie Mawuli, Helena Pueyo, Mariona Ortiz, Nadia Fingall (Casademont Zaragoza); Emma Meesseman, Kayla McBride, Gabby Williams, Megan Gustafson, Julie Allemand, Iliana Rupert, Sevgi Uzun, Teaira McCowan (Fenerbahçe Opet)
- Matchup details: Fenerbahçe will probably be on cruise control for the rest of the regular season, especially with McBride nursing a quad injury. Zaragoza, on the other hand, has a tremendous amount to gain from a win; depending on how this week’s game between Landes and Valencia goes, they could move into a tie for second place in Group F. They’ll have to beat the class of EuroLeague Women first, though, and based on what happened the last time they played Fenerbahçe—a 95-64 blowout—they’ll have their work cut out for them.
Umana Reyer Venezia (5-5) vs. DVTK HUNTHERM (1-9)
- When: 12 p.m. ET
- Where: DVTK Aréna in Miskolc, Hungary
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Kaila Charles, Lorela Cubaj, Joyner Holmes, Stephanie Mavunga, Ivana Dojkic (Umana Reyer Venezia); Kathryn Westbeld, Nina Aho, Monika Grigalauskyte, Paula Ginzo (DVTK HUNTHERM)
- Matchup details: This is a must-win game for Venezia, as the club has fallen behind Zaragoza and Valencia in Group F and will have an extremely difficult time qualifying for the play-ins if they lose again. Fortunately for them, DVTK has the worst record in the league, but that doesn’t mean things will be easy; when they last played back in December, Venezia barely escaped thanks to a fourth-quarter comeback, and DVTK will now be playing with house money. It will be up to Charles, Holmes and the rest of the Venezia frontcourt to take care of business and keep their team alive for at least one more week.
Beretta Famila Schio (6-4) vs. ZVVZ USK Praha (6-4)
- When: 1 p.m. ET
- Where: Královka Arena in Prague, Czech Republic
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Jessica Shepard, Cecilia Zandalasini, Kitija Laksa, Marième Badiane, Maria Conde, Anete Steinberga (Beretta Famila Schio); Brionna Jones, Janelle Salaün, Bridget Carleton, Valeriane Ayayi, Maite Cazorla, Pauline Astier (ZVVZ USK Praha)
- Matchup details: Schio may have defeated Praha in a blowout the last time the two clubs met, but the defending champs are a completely different team with Jones on their roster, and they’ve looked ready to defend their title since welcoming her back. Her individual matchup against Shepard (31 points and 14 rebounds last week) will garner most of the attention, but given how well-rounded and evenly-matched these two teams are, it won’t be the only factor. Both Schio and Praha excel at moving the ball and creating good shots—they rank No. 2 and No. 3 in EuroLeague Women in assists per game, respectively—so whichever team can be more disruptive on defense and take away those easy looks will be at an advantage.
Basket Landes (7-3) vs. Valencia Basket Club (6-4)
- When: 1:15 p.m. ET
- Where: Roig Arena in Valencia, Spain
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Leïla Lacan, Julie Wojta, Murjanatu Musa (Basket Landes); Leonie Fiebich, Nia Coffey, Awa Fam, Yvonne Anderson, Kayla Alexander, Raquel Carrera, Hind Ben Abdelkader, Leticia Romero (Valencia Basket Club)
- Matchup details: Landes just keeps defying expectations. Not only can they clinch a play-in spot with a win against Valencia, but a top-two finish in Group F is looking awfully realistic, too. Not bad for a team that FIBA ranked No. 13 at the start of the season! Valencia did defeat Landes the last time they played, however, and they seem to match up well on paper with their mix of size and athleticism. That doesn’t mean everything, of course, and Landes has made a name for themselves by beating supposedly superior opponents all season. One can’t help but wonder, though, if Valencia’s veteran core can make one more big push and grab the No. 2 seed they’ve been widely expected to compete for.
Flammes Carolo Basket (3-7) vs. Spar Girona (7-3)
- When: 2 p.m. ET
- Where: Pavelló Fontajau in Girona, Spain
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Liz Dixon, Maïa Hirsch, Noémie Brochant, Isabelle Strunc (Flammes Carolo Basket); Justė Jocytė, Chloe Bibby, Arica Carter, Mariam Coulibaly, Klara Holm (Spar Girona)
- Matchup details: This is the only game of the week that pits a team that has already qualified for the play-ins (Girona) against one that has already been eliminated (Carolo), but as we saw last week when Carolo upset Bourges, even the league’s weaker teams can still be dangerous. Girona is going through their first real rough patch of the season, too, having lost their leading scorer, Coulibaly, to a foot injury. To be clear, Girona still has enough offensive firepower to get the job done, but they might have a harder time against Carolo than they did back in December, when they rode a massive third quarter to a 15-point victory.
Thursday, January 29
Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring (8-2) vs. Tango Bourges Basket (6-4)
- When: 2 p.m. ET
- Where: Caisse d’Epargne Loire Centre in Bourges, France
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Marine Johannès, Elizabeth Williams, Dorka Juhász, Awak Kuier, Kamiah Smalls (Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring); Monique Akoa Makani, Kariata Diaby, Tima Pouye, Alix Duchet (Tango Bourges Basket)
- Matchup details: Bourges appeared to have a play-in spot sewn up last week, but a surprising loss to Carolo now puts them in a difficult position: facing Group E’s top team while not necessarily controlling their own destiny. Whatever happens between Schio and Praha on Wednesday, Bourges will need to score the ball more efficiently than they did the last time they played Galatasaray (35.4 percent on 2-pointers), but that will be easier said than done against such a big frontcourt. Galatasaray has already qualified for a spot in the play-ins, however, so they don’t have as much to play for as Bourges. We’ll see if that, along with homecourt advantage, is enough to even things up for the French club.
