It’s been six months since Fenerbahçe Opet defeated Valencia Basket Club in the EuroLeague Women third-place game, and Valencia surely hasn’t forgotten. The two powerhouses will meet again this week in group
play, and with the rematch being held at the brand-new Roig Arena in Spain, Valencia will have extra motivation to earn an early-season signature win—as well as get a little bit of revenge.
Both Fenerbahçe and Valencia are once again among the favorites to win the EuroLeague Women championship, coming in at No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, in FIBA’s preseason power rankings, and their stacked rosters represent what makes EuroLeague Women such a joy to follow. Two of the competition’s biggest international stars, Fenerbahçe’s Emma Meesseman and Valencia’s Alina Iagupova, will be at the forefront, as will several WNBA players, such as Rebecca Allen, Monique Billings and Julie Allemand. Don’t forget about Awa Fam, either; the 19-year old Spanish center has heaps of potential and projects to be one of the best players in Europe sooner rather than later.
Elsewhere in the competition, defending champions ZVVZ USK Praha take on a young, athletic Spar Girona squad featuring Laeticia Amihere and Justē Jocytē, while Marine Johannès and Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring seek a 2-0 start to group play against Ashley Joens and Flammes Carolo Basket.
These games, along with all other EuroLeague Women matchups, will be streamed live and for free on the official EuroLeague Women YouTube channel.
Wednesday, October 15
Spar Girona (1-0) vs. ZVVZ USK Praha (1-0)
- When: 1 p.m. ET
- Where: Královka Arena in Prague, Czech Republic
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Laeticia Amihere, Justė Jocytė, Arica Carter (Spar Girona); Janelle Salaün, Makayla Timpson, Kaitlyn Chen, Valeriane Ayayi, Maite Cazorla, Pauline Astier
- Matchup details: This season’s Praha roster looks a bit different than the one that won last spring’s EuroLeague Women championship, currently lacking a strong post presence, but the Czech club remains dangerous with shooters like Salaün and Ayayi. Their matchup with Girona will be an excellent opener for this week’s slate of games; Girona easily disposed of Gdynia last week, winning by 33 points and getting a solid all-around game from Jocyte (14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists), who looks ready for a bigger role this season at 19 years old.
Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring (1-0) vs. Flammes Carolo Basket (1-0)
- When: 1 p.m. ET
- Where: Caisse d’Épargne Aréna in Charleville-Mézères, France
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Marine Johannès, Elizabeth Williams, Dorka Juhász, Awak Kuier, Kamiah Smalls (Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring); Ashley Joens, Liz Dixon, Maïa Hirsch (Flammes Carolo Basket)
- Matchup details: Galatasaray is a club with a rich history, having enjoyed two lengthy stretches of success in the world of women’s basketball, so expectations will be high as it returns to EuroLeague Women for the first time since 2022. They passed their first test last week in a tight win over Schio, and they now encounter a Carolo team that convincingly won its first game against Sopron. Hirsch, in particular, will be a player to keep an eye on this season; she’s had trouble staying healthy in recent years, but if she’s at the top of her game, she has the size and length to match up against Galatasaray’s deep and talented frontcourt.
Thursday, October 16
DVTK HUNTHERM (0-1) vs. Olympiacos SFP (0-1)
- When: 11:30 a.m. ET
- Where: Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus, Greece
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Nina Aho, Monika Grigalauskyte, Paula Ginzo (DVTK HUNTHERM); Ciera Johnson, Nausia Woolfolk, Eleanna Christinaki (Olympiacos SFP)
- Matchup details: Olympiacos is, simply put, going to have to play much better defense. The Greek club gave up more points than any other in the first round of group play last season, and it allowed nearly 100 last week to Valencia. That’s good news for DVTK, which scored only 58 against Fenerbahçe in Week 1. To be fair, that’s a championship-quality opponent, so we’ll get a much better idea of how good DVTK actually is this week—and how good Olympiacos is, too, for that matter. Neither club is expected to make it out of Group C, but it’s still early enough in the season to be surprised.
Tango Bourges Basket (0-1) vs. VBW Gdynia (0-1)
- When: 12 p.m. ET
- Where: Polsat Plus Arena in Gdańsk, Poland
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Kariata Diaby, Tima Pouye, Marie-Paule Foppossi (Tango Bourges Basket); Ruthy Hebard, Stephanie Jones, Matilda Ekh (VBW Gdynia)
- Matchup details: Neither Bourges nor Gdynia looked particularly sharp in their first games of the season: They mustered 57 and 53 points, respectively, and both clubs finished with more turnovers than assists. Gdynia will more or less be playing with house money this season—it’s not expected that the Polish club will be very competitive—but Bourges is one of the bigger names in the competition and has had success in EuroLeague Women before, so another subpar performance this week would be disappointing.
Basket Landes (0-1) vs. ÇİMSA ÇBK Mersin (0-1)
- When: 12 p.m. ET
- Where: Servet Tazegül Spor Salonu in Mersin, Turkey
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Leïla Lacan, Julie Wojta, Murjanatu Musa (Basket Landes); Tiffany Hayes, Kennedy Burke, Julie Vanloo, Beatrice Mompremier (ÇİMSA ÇBK Mersin)
- Matchup details: Of the four groups in the first round, Group D is probably the one that’s most up for grabs, so this game is important for both Landes and Mersin, as neither club wants to be in an 0-2 hole. Mersin doesn’t look as intimidating as it did last season, but Hayes and Burke bring plenty of EuroLeague experience, and the addition of Mompremier should help shore things up on the interior. Landes, meanwhile, shot the ball well last week against Zaragoza, but committed 19 turnovers; better ball security will obviously be needed against Mersin’s active perimeter defenders.
Fenerbahçe Opet (1-0) vs. Valencia Basket Club (1-0)
- When: 1:15 p.m. ET
- Where: Roig Arena in Valencia, Spain
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Emma Meesseman, Rebecca Allen, Monique Billings, Julie Allemand, Iliana Rupert, Sevgi Uzun (Fenerbahçe Opet); Alina Iagupova, Awa Fam, Kayla Alexander, Tanaya Atkinson, Raquel Carrera, Hind Ben Abdelkader, Leticia Romero (Valencia Basket Club)
- Matchup details: Not only is this a marquee matchup, it also begins a potential redemption arc for both clubs. Fenerbahçe and Valencia were both widely expected to compete for a championship last season, so the fact that neither of them even made the title game was surprising. The list of notable players says it all: These are two star-studded rosters, and they’ll be playing under the added pressure to redeem themselves, so even though it’s still very early in group play, this game should have a playoff atmosphere.
Sopron Basket (0-1) vs. Beretta Famila Schio (0-1)
- When: 2 p.m. ET
- Where: Palazzetto Livio Romare in Schio, Italy
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Nika Mühl, Jelena Brooks (Sopron Basket); Jessica Shepard, Cecilia Zandalasini, Marième Badiane, Maria Conde (Beretta Famila Schio)
- Matchup details: Sopron is another club trying to restore its former EuroLeague Women glories. The 2022 champs were once regulars in the competition and would like to regain their relevance, but are off to a rough start, losing by nearly 30 in their first game of the week. While Schio also dropped its opening-week game, it wasn’t by much, and the Italian club will present a challenge to Sopron with its size and shooting on the perimeter; Zandalasini and Conde are one of the better offensive duos in the competition, combining to score 27 points against Galatasaray in Week 1.
Umana Reyer Venezia (1-0) vs. Casademont Zaragoza (1-0)
- When: 2 p.m. ET
- Where: Pabellón Príncipe Felipe in Zaragoza, Spain
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Kaila Charles, Lorela Cubaj, Joyner Holmes, Stephanie Mavunga (Umana Reyer Venezia); Carla Leite, Stephanie Mawuli, Helena Pueyo, Nadia Fingall (Casademont Zaragoza)
- Matchup details: Both Venezia and Zaragoza made this season’s EuroLeague Women pool via qualifier, and they sure look like they belong thus far, having each secured close opening-week victories. Group D is going to be highly competitive, so every one of its teams will want to build an early-season cushion, making this game an important one. With strong rebounders like Charles, Mavunga and Holmes, Venezia is going to be tough to compete with physically, though Zaragoza does have the competition’s reigning Player of the Week in Pueyo, who scored 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting against Landes.
