What is the story about?
Just a few weeks of group play remain in EuroLeague Women, and two clubs have already clinched their spots in the postseason: Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring (Group E) and Fenerbahçe Opet (Group F). That means there are six play-in berths remaining, and with eight teams still in the hunt (four in each group), this week’s slate of games will be especially crucial for seeding purposes.
For some teams, like Tango Bourges Basket and Basket Landes, the play-in seems like an inevitability. They’re both coming
off big wins (Landes, in particular, deserves another mention for their stunning upset of Fenerbahçe) and have relatively easy opponents this week.
For other teams, things aren’t as clear-cut—yet. Just one game separates Valencia Basket Club and Casademont Zaragoza in the Group F standings, so their matchup this week will go a long way in determining who makes the play-ins and who doesn’t. Similarly, Spar Girona and Beretta Famila Schio are both looking like strong candidates to come out of Group E, making their matchup an important one.
As always, all of this week’s EuroLeague Women games will be streamed live and for free on FIBA’s EuroLeague Women YouTube channel. Let’s run through the upcoming slate of games and discuss the most important things to watch for.
Wednesday, January 21
Tango Bourges Basket (6-3) vs. Flammes Carolo Basket (2-7)
- When: 1:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Caisse d’Épargne Aréna in Charleville-Mézières, France
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Monique Akoa Makani, Kariata Diaby, Tima Pouye, Alix Duchet (Tango Bourges Basket); Liz Dixon, Maïa Hirsch, Noémie Brochant, Isabelle Strunc (Flammes Carolo Basket)
- Matchup details: Bourges came out of the holiday break on fire, scoring 92 points on 52.2 percent shooting in a win over Schio, and they’ll be expected to repeat that performance this week against Carolo. The last time the two French clubs met, Bourges won by nearly 30 points, and nothing that’s happened since then inspires any more confidence in Carolo, who haven’t won a game since October and have been eliminated from play-in contention. Expect Bourges to cruise to another win.
DVTK HUNTHERM (1-8) vs. Basket Landes (6-3)
- When: 1:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Espace François-Mitterrand in Mont-de-Marsan, France
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Kathryn Westbeld, Nina Aho, Monika Grigalauskyte, Paula Ginzo (DVTK HUNTHERM); Leïla Lacan, Julie Wojta, Murjanatu Musa (Basket Landes)
- Matchup details: Landes earned one of the biggest upset wins in EuroLeague Women history last week, and they’re now in a position to establish some real momentum. DVTK has yet to win a game in the second round of group play, and they currently rank last in the league in cumulative point differential at -153 and have already been eliminated from play-in contention. That being said, they put up a good fight against Landes back in December, shaving a large deficit down to just seven in the fourth quarter. As usual, Landes will need to lean on their advantage on the boards (42-23 in their last game against DVTK) to avoid a letdown against an inferior opponent.
Valencia Basket Club (6-3) vs. Casademont Zaragoza (5-4)
- When: 2 p.m. ET
- Where: Pabellón Príncipe Felipe in Zaragoza, Spain
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Leonie Fiebich, Nia Coffey, Awa Fam, Yvonne Anderson, Kayla Alexander, Raquel Carrera, Hind Ben Abdelkader, Leticia Romero (Valencia Basket Club); Carla Leite, Stephanie Mawuli, Helena Pueyo, Mariona Ortiz, Nadia Fingall (Casademont Zaragoza)
- Matchup details: In terms of play-in positioning, this is probably the most important game of the week. Both Valencia and Zaragoza are making their cases for the postseason, and while neither club can clinch a spot just yet, whoever wins this game will be in a good position for the rest of group play. Zaragoza came out on top the last time they played Valencia, thanks to an unforgettable fourth-quarter comeback, but Valencia has looked like the stronger team since then, with their signing of Anderson paying immediate dividends. Given that Valencia is also a game ahead in the standings, Zaragoza likely needs this win a little more.
Thursday, January 22
ZVVZ USK Praha (5-4) vs. Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring (8-1)
- When: 12 p.m. ET
- Where: Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Brionna Jones, Janelle Salaün, Bridget Carleton, Valeriane Ayayi, Maite Cazorla, Pauline Astier (ZVVZ USK Praha); Marine Johannès, Elizabeth Williams, Dorka Juhász, Awak Kuier, Kamiah Smalls (Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring)
- Matchup details: Praha got some major reinforcements last week when Jones re-joined their roster, and with Carleton and Salaün catching fire from beyond the arc (50 combined points and 14 3-pointers against Carolo), the defending champs look set to finish group play on a high note. They’ll take on Group E’s top team in Galatasaray, who recently knocked off Girona to claim first place in the standings and clinch a play-in berth. There’s going to be a lot of WNBA talent featured in this game, and with both clubs playing their best basketball of the season, it’s not one to be missed.
Fenerbahçe Opet (8-1) vs. Umana Reyer Venezia (5-4)
- When: 1:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Palasport Taliercio in Venice, Italy
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Emma Meesseman, Kayla McBride, Gabby Williams, Megan Gustafson, Julie Allemand, Iliana Rupert, Sevgi Uzun, Teaira McCowan (Fenerbahçe Opet); Kaila Charles, Lorela Cubaj, Joyner Holmes, Stephanie Mavunga, Ivana Dojkic (Umana Reyer Venezia)
- Matchup details: It should go without saying that Fenerbahçe will be trying to get back on track after their surprising loss last week. They’re probably happy to see Venezia, given what happened the last time the two clubs met: a wire-to-wire, 48-point Fenerbahçe victory. That’s not to say anyone should be expecting such a huge margin again—it’s rare to see any club get doubled up, even if it’s against the league’s best team—but Venezia will certainly have their work cut out for them. They’ll need to make a few more shots than they did the last time they took on Fenerbahçe, when they made just 4-of-33 3-pointers.
Spar Girona (7-2) vs. Beretta Famila Schio (5-4)
- When: 2 p.m. ET
- Where: Palazzetto Livio Rómare in Schio, Italy
- How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
- Players to watch: Justė Jocytė, Chloe Bibby, Arica Carter, Mariam Coulibaly, Klara Holm (Spar Girona); Leonie Fiebich, Nia Coffey, Awa Fam, Yvonne Anderson, Kayla Alexander, Raquel Carrera, Hind Ben Abdelkader, Leticia Romero (Valencia Basket Club)
- Matchup details: Can Girona survive without EuroLeague Women’s leading scorer? Coulibaly, who was averaging 19 points and 8.1 rebounds per game when she suffered a serious foot injury, seems to be out for the foreseeable future, and Girona felt her absence last week against Galatasaray. They’re still one win away from clinching a spot in the play-ins, but they’re suddenly looking a lot more vulnerable than they did a week ago, and Schio will surely be looking to take advantage. The Italian club has one of the league’s most efficient offenses, averaging 78.2 points per game as a unit while shooting 37.8 percent on 3-pointers, but they’ll need to play better defense than they did last week when they surrendered 92 points to Bourges.
