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EuroCup Qualifiers Game 1 October 8th-10th

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Four series were needed to determine the last spots in the regular season.  The Western half of the draw started and ended the first games as Gernika crushed Namur 92-50 to virtually settle that affair before the second game in Belgium.  The visitors had Natalie Butler and Serena-Lynn Geldof making professional debuts.  Both Eastern matchups started on Tuesday with second games scheduled for Friday.  Orman welcomed Gdynia to Turkey and won 67-52 to give themselves a solid buffer before the series heads to Poland.  Niki Lefkadas is looking to increase Greek participation at this level and a 66-59 home win over Raisa Andrianova and Spartak Noginsk still leaves a lot to play for in Russia.  Wednesday’s game was in Liege, where Jaleesa Maes led the Belgian side, but Shaqwedia Wallace helped Nantes get the 75-56 win, which they should be able to hold next week in France.

October 8, 2018

Gernika Bizkaia vs. Namur 92-50 LOIN Mazionyte 17 Berezhynska 16 Vanderwal 16 Roundtree 12/7r Ariztimuno 11 Dietrick 8/6a BELN Jones 17 Horobets 11 Butler 6/7r Mestdagh 6 Da Silva 4/6r Geldof 0

October 9, 2018

Orman vs. Gdynia 67-52 ORMAN Gardner 19 Copper 13 Askin 10 Henry 8/11r GDYN Greinacher 12/11r Allen 11 Cannon 10/7r

Niki Lefkadas vs. Spartak Noginsk 66-59 NIKI E. Tsineke 17 Papamichail 13 Johnson-Walker 11/7r Balta 11/6r Knight 7 NOGIN Andrianova 21/12r Kuzmina 12 Alikina 10/7r

October 10, 2018

Liege Panthers vs. Nantes Reze 56-75 LIEGE Maes 20/6r Henket 15 Trice 5 NRB Wallace 28/7r Day 16/10r Djaldi-Tabdi 12/7r

2018-19 EuroLeague and EuroCup Draws

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Both competitions conducted their draws on Thursday.  In addition to the regular season groups, all qualifying pairings were picked as the last teams in each competition will need to be decided.

EuroLeague:

Group A: Famila Schio (Italy), UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia), CCC Polkowice (Poland), Tango Bourges (France), ZVVZ USK Prague (Czech Republic), Mithra Castors Braine (Belgium), winner Nadezhda Orenburg (Russia) vs. Cukurova (Turkey), winner ESBVA-LM (France) vs. Atomeromu-Tarr KSC Szekszard (Hungary)
Group B: Avenida (Spain), Dynamo Kursk (Russia), Flammes Carolo (France), Sopron (Hungary), Fenerbahce (Turkey), Hatay (Turkey), winner Wisla Krakow (Poland) vs. Olympiacos (Greece), winner Umana Reyer Venezia (Italy) vs. TTT Riga (Latvia)

Last season’s draw seemed to produce a rather unbalanced regular season while this year seems to have more even groups at first glance.  Defending champions Ekaterinburg headline Group A, which currently features six domestic champions.  Behind them, teams will be looking to compete for what will almost certainly only be three available places and all of them will feel like they should at least grab fifth or sixth place and a drop down to the EuroCup knockout stages.  The qualifiers should also be able to mix it up quite well with the other teams, but the draw threw up an interesting result with Nadezhda and Cukurova matching up and preventing us from having three teams from both Russia and Turkey.

Group B has two of the semifinalists from last year compared to one for the other group.  Add to that mix the top two remaining teams in Turkey and perennial playoff contenders Avenida and there will be quite a battle for the top four spots.  There is plenty of room for upstarts in this group as French runners up Charleville look to make an immediate impact and one of Reyer and TTT Riga will also make it.  The other qualifier will have Wisla trying to retain their place against Greek powerhouse Olympiacos and a win for them could make half of the teams in this group not the defending champions in their country.

EuroCup:

East:

A: Artego Bydgoszcz (Poland), Sparta&k M.R. Vidnoje (Russia), Sodertalje (Sweden), Gorzow Wielkolpolski (Poland)
B: MBA Moscow (Russia), Galatasaray (Turkey), Energa Torun (Poland), winner Spartak Noginsk (Russia) vs. Niki Lefkada (Greece)
C: Besiktas (Turkey), Inventa Kursk (Russia), Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus), loser Wisla Krakow (Poland) vs. Olympiacos (Greece)
D: Enisey Krasnoyarsk Region (Russia), Mersin Buyuksehir (Turkey), Sepsi-SIC (Romania), winner Gdynia (Poland) vs. Orman Genclik (Turkey)
E: Umea (Sweden), Beroe (Bulgaria), Botas (Turkey), loser Nadezhda (Russia) vs. Cukurova (Turkey)

Only one group in this half is already known in its entirety in Group A.  The other teams will be waiting for all the qualifiers to conclude to find out where they need to a book a trip to later.  As usual, the Turkish teams will be expected to qualify from their groups as there are also an abundance of Russian teams in this stage.  No team will be thinking that they are out of contention for one of the top two spots in each group that will lead to automatic qualification as a pair of third place teams will also qualify from these five groups.  Defending champions Galatasaray sit in group B, but keep an eye on Group E, where the likely two teams to progress, Botas and the loser of the EuroLeague qualification series between Nadezhda and Cukurova, are likely to make noise in the later stages of this competition.

West:

F: Spar CityLift Girona (Spain), Uni Gyor (Hungary), Uniao Sportiva (Portugal), winner Belfius Namur Capitale (Belgium) vs. Lointek Gernika (Spain)
G: Aluinvent DVTK Miskolc (Hungary), KP Brno (Czech Republic), winner Nantes Reze (France) vs. Liege Panthers (Belgium), loser Umana Reyer Venezia (Italy) vs. TTT Riga (Latvia)
H: Nymburk (Czech Republic), Ruzomberok (Slovakia), Cinkarna Celje (Slovenia), loser ESBVA-LM (France) vs. Atomeromu-Tarr KSC Szekszard (Hungary)
I: BLMA (France), VBW CEKK Cegled (Hungary), Rutronik Stars Keltern (Germany), Lyon ASVEL (France)
J: Landes (France), Elfic Fribourg (Switzerland), Tarbes Gespe Bigorre (France), Sint Katelijne Waver (Belgium)

This half has two groups already set as DVTK and KP Brno are still awaiting two final groupmates.  Group I is one to watch as ambitious ASVEL from France will clash with the more established BLMA.  Two French teams are also in Group J.  Travel could be interesting in the western section as TTT Riga could drop into this half instead of the east due to more eastern teams entering the EuroLeague qualifiers than western teams.  While the western teams have been less competitive in recent years, last season’s run by Reyer should be a blueprint for these teams as they try to make a run through the knockout stages.

2018-19 European Competition Teams

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On Friday, FIBA announced the teams competing in EuroLeague and EuroCup for the upcoming season.  Draws for qualifiers and groups for both competitions will be conducted on Thursday and broadcast on FIBA’s YouTube channel.  The combination of traditional powerhouses and new faces means that both competitions had more interested teams than spots, which should lead to some competitive qualifying games.

EuroLeague:

Twenty teams were eligible for the continent’s premier competition so only twelve could qualify directly with eight teams competing for the last four spots.  That number of teams means that the powerhouse countries were only given two direct spots.  Defending champions UMMC Ekaterinburg will be joined by Dynamo Kursk from Russia.  Turkish champions Fenerbahce and Hatay will represent their league.  Bourges and Carolo will represent France to round out the countries with one direct entry.  A number of other traditional names also earned automatic spots as Final Four hosts Sopron will represent Hungary, Castors Braine continues to carry the torch for Belgium, and Schio of Italy, Polkowice of Poland, Avenida of Spain, and USK Praha of the Czech Republic round out the list of champions.

The number of teams involved mean that some good teams will be fighting for qualification.  Fortunately, the earlier end to the WNBA season and some time off after national team competition should mean that teams will be at full strength in October.  Nadezhda Orenburg of Russia and ESBVA of France are two teams that are used to not having to fight for their spots who will now have to survive this round.  Turkish surprises Cukurova are taking the step up while Wisla Krakow of Poland are another traditional name who could face a test.  Reyer Venezia of Italy and Szekszard of Hungary will look to increase their country’s representation at the highest level.  TTT Riga of Latvia is looking to recapture former glories while powerhouse Olimpiacos continue to try to introduce Greece back to a bigger stage.  Teams that lose their qualifiers will drop down to EuroCup.

EuroCup:

The regular season will feature ten groups of four teams again.  The teams will be split into an eastern section, known as Conference 1, and a western section, known as Conference 2.  Sixteen teams in each conference are already known while two teams on each side will come from EuroLeague qualifying losers and each side will have two qualifying matchups to determine the final teams.

In the east, expect the Turkish teams to be strong again as Istanbul giants Galatasaray and Besiktas are joined by Botas and Mersin.  Russia will also have a number of teams as Enisey Krasnoyarsk, MBA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, and promising newcomers Inventa Kursk have automatic berths.  Poland’s reintegration into the wider continental scene continues as Bydgoszcz, Torun, and Gorzow will be there.  Umea continues to represent Sweden, this time being joined by Sodertalje.  Romania’s dominant force Sepsi returns after a surprise run, while Tsmoki-Minsk represents Belarus and Beroe will add Bulgarian participation to proceedings.  Qualifiers in this half will see three teams try to further increase participation from their countries as Spartak Noginsk of Russia, Orman of Turkey, and Gdynia of Poland are joined by surprise entry Niki Lefkadas of Greece.

The west should have strong French teams again as Tarbes, ASVEL, BLMA, and Lattes all know that they will be playing.  Hungary will provide three teams as Gyor, Cegled, and Miskolc are all threats.  KP Brno and Nymburk make the Czech Republic the other country to already know that they are sending multiple teams.  Girona of Spain, surprise Germany champions Keltern, and Fribourg of Switzerland all rejoin proceedings.  Ruzomberok is the lone team from Slovakia as they are now set up to be the powerhouse in the country.  Celje of Slovenia had an exceptionally young and talented team last season and this will be a good step for them to grow in stature as a club while Uniao Sportiva will be ready to welcome teams after they make long trips out to the Azores.  Sint-Katelijne-Waver is the only known Belgian representative, but the qualifiers will be make or break for the country with Namur and newcomers Liege Panthers looking to progress.  Nantes of France and Gernika Bizkaia of Spain are also looking to boost their countries’ numbers.

EuroCup Women Finals Game 2 April 18th

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April 18, 2018

The second game of the final was played on Wednesday in Italy.  Reyer was faced with a big deficit from the first game and Galatasaray extended that margin earlier.  The hosts fought back, taking the lead and cutting the margin in half several times in the second half, but a 72-65 win still left them short 155-140.  With other offensive options being shut down, it was Kaela Davis who emerged to help the visitors keep the margin at the right levels.

Reyer Venezia vs. Galatasaray 72-65 VEN Williams 16 Ruzickova 12 Bestagno 12 Walker 11/7r Little 8 GALA Davis 21/8r Petronyte 19/13r Dubljevic 8 Quigley 5/9r Kobryn 0

Galatasaray wins series 155-140

 

EuroCup Women Finals Game 1 April 11th

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April 11, 2018

The first game of the final series was played in Istanbul as Galatasaray brought in a massive crowd.  That energy fueled the hosts as Allie Quigley was completely unstoppable, getting some help on the inside from Gintare Petronyte in a 90-68 win.  Riquna Williams led Reyer, which now faces a very daunting task next week in Italy.

Galatasaray vs. Reyer Venezia 90-68 GALA Quigley 37 Petronyte 25/12r Dubljevic 14 Davis 4 Kobryn 2 VEN Williams 21/9r Carangelo 12 Walker 5 Little 2

EuroCup Semifinals Game 2 March 28th-29th

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The first series wrapped on Wednesday in Salamanca.  Avenida built a lead at home, flirting with the margin that would flip the aggregate scoreline back in their favor, but Allie Quigley and Galatasaray did enough work late to keep the margin to a 57-55 loss to hang on to the 124-119 win overall.  Reyer hosted on Thursday, but knew that they would need a tremendous effort to overturn a massive deficit.  They chipped into it early, nearly making up the entire gap by halftime with Riquna Williams leading the way.  They continued to control the game in third quarter to build up a lead, but Hatay rallied to start the fourth quarter only to see the hosts do enough late to win the game 80-57 and advance 134-131.

March 28, 2018

Perfumerias Avenida vs. Galatasaray 57-55 AVEN Dominguez 15 Robinson 10 Elonu 8 De Souza 6 Givens 6 Moss 5 Mestdagh 0 GALA Quigley 24 Petronyte 12/6r Dubljevic 6 Kobryn 2 Davis 0

Galatasaray advances 124-119

March 29, 2018

Reyer Venezia vs. Hatay 80-57 VEN Williams 24/6r De Pretto 12/6r Micovic 11 Carangelo 10/8r/6a Walker 9/6a Little 6 HATA Paris 17/20r Ben Abdelkader 17 Mitchell 10 Turner 6

Reyer Venezia advances 134-131

EuroCup Semifinals Game 1 March 22nd

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March 22, 2018

Both series started in Turkey on Thursday.  Hatay started well at home, but Reyer cut into the lead early in the second half only to have the hosts extend the margin late for a commanding 74-54 win.  The other game was much closer as Galatasaray won 69-62.  Avenida will feel like this deficit can be overcome at home in Salamanca on Wednesday while it will be tougher for the home team in Venezia on Thursday.

Hatay vs. Reyer Venezia 74-54 HATA Snytsina 17/6r Mitchell 17 Ben Abdelkader 16 Paris 13/17r Turner 7 VEN Walker 13 Williams 12 Little 5

Galatasaray vs. Perfumerias Avenida 69-62 GALA Dubljevic 15/7r Petronyte 12 Davis 11 Alben 10 Quigley 8 Kobryn 6 AVEN Robinson 17 Mestdagh 12 Moss 11 Elonu 6 Givens 2 De Souza 1

EuroCup Quarterfinals Game 2 March 7th-8th

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As was the case last week, one series played on Wednesday.  Girona looked to be keeping enough of a distance from Galatasaray to advance, but the visitors fought back in the fourth quarter to not only win the game 72-67, but flip the aggregate to their favor 134-132.  Leilani Mitchell and Hatay wiped out their first game deficit quickly, but let Villeneuve back into the tie before building up their lead again in the second half to win 84-71 and advance 156-145.  Mersin thought that they had done enough in the second half to advance, but Riquna Williams and Reyer got just the points they needed to only lose 65-60, moving on by the slimmest of margins 139-138.  Nadezhda had some success in cutting into the deficit in Salamanca, but Kim Mestdagh and Avenida controlled the second half to win outright 91-72, pushing the final totals to 176-140.

March 7, 2018

Spar Citylift Girona vs. Galatasaray 67-72 GIRO Evans 18/12r Mendy 16 Buch 11 Martinez 8 Conde 6 Romeo 5 Gomes Colhado 3 GALA Petronyte 17/7r Epoupa 13/6s Quigley 13 Tasci 11 Dubljevic 7 Davis 4 Kobryn 0

Galatasaray advances 134-132

March 8, 2018

Hatay vs. ESBVA-LM 84-71 HATA Mitchell 30/8r Ben Abdelkader 19 Paris 16/11r Snytsina 11/6a Turner 6/9r Tanacan 2 ESBV Gomis 18 Sy 14 Jovanovic 13 Amant 12

Hatay advances 156-145

Reyer Venezia vs. Mersin 60-65 VEN Williams 25 De Pretto 10 Walker 9/8r Little 0 MERS Hartley 19/6a Murphy 18 Gajic 11/13r Thomas 8/15r Putnina 2

Reyer Venezia advances 139-138

Perfumerias Avenida vs. Nadezhda 91-72 AVEN Mestdagh 24 Dominguez 12 Givens 11 Robinson 10 Elonu 8 De Souza 7 Moss 2 NAD Bentley 16 Jones 15/6r Cannon 14/10r Ygueravide 14

Perfumerias Avenida advances 176-140

Semifinals (team listed first hosts first game):

Hatay vs. Reyer Venezia

Perfumerias Avenida vs. Galatasaray

EuroCup Quarterfinals Game 1 February 28th-March 1st

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One series started on Wednesday with the rest opening on Thursday.  Allie Quigley led Galatasaray, but the hosts fell to Girona 65-62 to put themselves in a difficult spot to advance.  Two teams dropping down from EuroLeague met in Orenburg, with Avenida using a blistering start to take an 85-68 lead on Nadezhda.  Venezia built a lead in the fourth quarter to spoil Bria Hartley’s big game for Mersin 79-73 as both teams bolstered their rosters in a quest for silverware.  The last game of the day was in Villeneuve d’Ascq and it was the only one won by the home team as Pauline Akonga led the way in a 74-72 final.  Courtney Paris led Hatay as all three Turkish teams will need second game turnarounds a year after all four semifinalists were from there.  Each series will conclude one week after the first game.

February 28, 2018

Galatasaray vs. Spar Citylift Girona 62-65 GALA Quigley 24/6r Dubljevic 11 Kobryn 10 Davis 0 GIRO Traore 18/8r Buch 13/6r Romeo 9 Gomes Colhado 8/14r Evans 5/7r Martinez 5 Conde 2

March 1, 2018

Nadezhda vs. Perfumerias Avenida 68-85 NAD Cannon 16/11r Jones 16 Medvedeva 12 Ygueravide 10 Bentley 10 AVEN Dominguez 18 Moss 13 Robinson 12 Elonu 8 Givens 8 DeSouza 8 Mestdagh 3

Mersin vs. Reyer Venezia 73-79 MERS Hartley 25 Yalcin 17 Thomas 10 Gajic 7/18r Murphy 6 Putnina 2 VEN Ruzickova 17/11r De Pretto 16 Walker 15/6r Williams 9 Little 2

ESBVA-LM vs. Hatay 74-72 ESBV Akonga 23/7r Jovanovic 14 Sy 10/8r HATA Paris 21/13r Ben Abdelkader 15 Turner 13/6r/6a Snytsina 12 Mitchell 2/7r/6a

EuroCup Round of 8 Game 2 January 31st-February 1st

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The top four seeds hosted games looking to advance.  4 seed Hatay held a narrow lead on 12 seed Szekszard, breaking it open early at home on Wednesday to win 98-65 with Katsiaryna Snytsina leading the way, stretching the final margin to 174-139.  Darxia Morris and 8 seed Good Angels Kosice quickly began to cut into the deficit, winning 73-63, but it was not enough against top seed Reyer, which still had plenty of lead to spare in advancing 152-141.  2 seed Virtus had a big margin to overcome at home in Ragusa and made some progress by halftime, but Girona was able to regain the lead in the game and win outright 78-72 to push the aggregate to 163-133.  The last game was played on Thursday as 11 Mersin maintained their first game lead with an 86-84 win over the 3 seed in Charleville-Mezeres to advance 166-155 behind Bria Hartley and Sasa Cado.  The draw for the next round will be conducted on Friday as the EuroLeague teams join the fray.

January 31, 2018

(4) Hatay vs. (12) KSC Szekszard 98-65 HATA Snytsina 24/6a Ben Abdelkader 19 Paris 18/10r Turner 13 Mitchell 8/8a Tanacan 0 KSC McCall 14 A. Studer 12/6a Krnjic 9

Hatay advances 174-139

(1) Reyer Venezia vs. (8) Good Angels Kosice 63-73 VEN Ruzickova 13 De Pretto 12 Walker 10/14r GAKE Morris 27/6a Jurcenkova 15/6r Balintova 11 Peters 2/7r

Reyer Venezia advances 152-141

(2) Virtus Eirene vs. (7) Spar Citylift Girona 72-78 RAGU Hamby 18 Kuster 16 Consolini 15 Ndour 11/9r GIRO Gomes Colhado 18/8r Evans 16 Buch 12 Romeo 8 Martinez 6 Conde 0

Spar Citylift Girona advances 163-133

February 1, 2018

(3) Carolo vs. (11) Mersin 84-86 CARO Filip 18 Mosqueda-Lewis 14 Bouderra 14/13a Loyd 13 Berezhynska 8/11r Dos Santos 4 MERS Hartley 21/7r Cado 20 Gajic 19/8r Putnina 13 Yalcin 11/7a Thomas 2/6r

Mersin advances 166-155