Leïla Lacan and Basket Landes prove that Fenerbahçe is beatable in EuroLeague Women shocker

SB Nation

Ever since the 2025-26 EuroLeague Women season began, one question has lingered: Can anyone beat Fenerbahçe Opet?

On Gameday 9, we finally got our answer. Basket Landes pulled off one of the more surprising

upsets in recent EuroLeague Women history, handing Fenerbahçe their first loss of the season in shockingly convincing fashion. Landes got out to a 10-point first-quarter lead and never looked back, surviving a brief second-half Fenerbahçe run and cruising the rest of the way in front of their home crowd.

Though Landes doesn’t have as many instantly-recognizable names of the bigger EuroLeague Women clubs, they showed that amassing star-level talent isn’t the only way to win basketball games. They’ve leaned on strong team rebounding all season long, and this week was no different; Landes out-rebounded Fenerbahçe 43-34, and their 14 offensive rebounds were right in line with their season average of 13.3 per game. They also made 10 3-pointers to Fenerbahçe’s six—an unexpected victory in itself, given how far ahead of everyone else Fenerbahçe has been offensively.

That’s not to say Landes lacked for big individual performances. Leïla Lacan had arguably the best game of her promising young career, leading all scorers with 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field. Such a breakout had been inevitable for Lacan—one of several can’t-miss, up-and-coming players competing in EuroLeague Women’s—and the magnitude of the moment may be enough to launch her into international stardom.

As for Fenerbahçe, despite the shock and disappointment, their loss to Landes was almost certainly just a minor hiccup. They’re simply too talented not to bounce back. It’s worth noting, however, that Teaira McCowan played just under four minutes in her season debut, and for as well as Fenerbahçe has gotten its bigger names to play together, there may be matchups in which McCowan isn’t much of a factor.

Bridget Carleton makes history in Praha’s rout of Carolo

Speaking of season debuts, ZVVZ Praha was surely glad to get Brionna Jones back in their lineup. The reigning Final Six MVP looked like she hadn’t missed a beat, recording 14 points, six rebounds and five steals in Praha’s blowout win over Flammes Carolo Basket.

It was Bridget Carleton, though, who stole the show. The Canadian guard scored a game-high 29 points in just 26 minutes on the court, and the nine 3-pointers she hit set a new EuroLeague Women single-game record.

All of this obviously bodes well for Praha’s rest-of-season outlook, but the defending champs will still have their work cut out for them.

At 5-4, Praha still ranks No. 5 in the Group E standings, which would not be good enough for them to qualify for February’s play-ins. Realistically speaking, they’ll be competing with Spar Girona (7-2), Tango Bourges Basket (6-3) and Beretta Famila Schio (5-4) for the remainder of group play; they’re all strong teams, and it’s a shame one of them won’t be able to advance.

Galatasaray takes control of Group E in win over Girona

There’s one club that no longer has to worry about qualifying for the play-ins, and it’s Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring. With a hard-fought win over Girona, Galatasaray moved into sole possession of the top seed in Group E, clinching the group’s first postseason berth in the process.

Galatasaray’s frontcourt turned in a terrific performance, with Dorka Juhász, Awak Kuier and Elizabeth Williams combining to score 55 points on 67.6 percent shooting from the field. Without the competition’s leading scorer, Mariam Coulibaly, there wasn’t much Girona could do to match Galatasaray’s size; Coulibaly recently suffered a foot injury that involved ligament damage, likely putting an unfortunate end to what was shaping up to be an MVP-caliber season.

Girona is far from done, but life without Coulibaly will be significantly tougher. They’ll definitely need more out of Justė Jocytė, who has shown flashes of brilliance this season but made just one shot against Galatasaray. Newcomer Chloe Bibby, who recorded 21 points and eight rebounds in her season debut, will probably also be featured heavily for the remainder of the season.