Beretta Famila Schio and Umana Reyer Venezia will play the deciding third game in their EuroLeague Women play-in series this week, with the winner advancing to the league’s playoffs, also known as the Final Six.
It’s poetic that the series between the two Italian clubs will go the distance, given that they’re both ranked at the top of the standings in their domestic league Serie A1; everything that’s happened in their EuroLeague Women bout thus far points to a pair of evenly-matched teams, and they’ll
be expected to leave it all on the court with a spot in the Final Six on the line.
Meanwhile, the semifinal play-in series between Basket Landes and Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring will also go the full three games. Both Landes and Galatasaray have already qualified for the Final Six, so the stakes for this series aren’t quite as high, but the winner will advance directly to the Final Six semifinals, so there’s still good reason for the two teams to give it their all.
This will be the last slate of games until the Final Six begins next month, so make sure you don’t miss it. Both games will be streamed live and for free on FIBA’s EuroLeague Women YouTube channel. Here’s everything you’ll need to watch for in each of them.
Tuesday, March 3
Basket Landes (1-1) vs. Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring (1-1) (semifinal play-in)
- When: 12:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Leïla Lacan, Julie Wojta, Murjanatu Musa (Basket Landes); Elizabeth Williams, Dorka Juhász, Awak Kuier, Kamiah Smalls (Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring)
- Matchup details: Landes used its defense to even things up last week, forcing 23 Galatasaray turnovers and fending off a late comeback attempt. Now we’ll see if they can repeat that performance on the road. In the opening game of the series, Galatasaray had a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter, and though Landes somehow ended up forcing overtime, they ran out of gas in the extra period. It’s going to be difficult for Landes to match up with Galatasaray in the halfcourt, especially given the Turkish club’s size advantage, so they’ll have to push the envelope on defense once again to even the odds.
Beretta Famila Schio (1-1) vs. Umana Reyer Venezia (1-1) (quarterfinal play-in)
- When: 1:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Palasport Taliercio in Venice, Italy
- 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); Kaila Charles, Lorela Cubaj, Joyner Holmes, Stephanie Mavunga, Ivana Dojkic (Umana Reyer Venezia)
- Matchup details: This series has been as competitive as expected, with two close, back-and-forth games. Expect more of the same for the rubber match. Venezia overcame a strong effort from Shepard last week thanks to clutch shots from Holmes and Charles, and they’ll get the chance to finish things off this week at home, but don’t count Schio out just yet. Their offense has been dormant for much of this series, but they still have the shooters to carry them for extended periods, and their roster as a whole excels at hunting efficient shots. Venezia has been able to neutralize that advantage thus far; can they continue their hard work on defense and on the boards and punch their ticket to the Final Six, or will Schio get hot when it matters most?
