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After a two-week hiatus, EuroLeague Women action resumes Wednesday, Nov. 26 for the sixth and final week of group play.
Remember, the top three teams from each of the four groups will advance to the second round, where the 12 total clubs will be placed into two new groups of six. Second round play will begin Wednesday, Dec. 10.
So far, 10 of the 12 second-round spots have been claimed:
In Group C, DVTK HUNTHERM and Olympiacos remain in contention for the final spot. If either club can win their Week 6 matchup, they’ll earn the berth. However, a victory is an unlikely proposition for both clubs. DVTK plays Valencia, a club they lost to by 35 points in Week 3. Olympiacos faces an even more difficult lift, matched up against competition favorite Fenerbahçe. The Turkish powerhouse, which has added Teaira McCowan to an already-stacked squad, is undefeated in five group play games, outscoring opponents by 125 total points.
If neither of DVTK and Olympiacos pull off an improbable upset, DVTK will be in position to advance. While the two clubs split their head-to-head games, DVTK would win the tiebreaker, as their 87-63 win over Olympiacos in Week 5 has given them a +12 point differential.
The contest for the final second-round spot from Group D should be more dramatic, with Casademont Zaragoza hosting ÇBK Mersin to determine which club remains in the competition. It’s a must-win situation for Mersin, and more specifically, a must-win by more than seven points. In Week 3, Zaragoza beat Mersin 79-72, allowing them to enter the game with a bit more comfort and confidence.
On paper, Mersin still looks like the more talented team. But it’s been a disappointing season for the club, underachieving despite a roster featuring four WNBA players in Tiffany Hayes, Kennedy Burke, Luisa Geiselsöder and Julie Vanloo. Zaragoza has benefited from the contributions of young WNBA-caliber talents in Carla Leite and Helena Pueyo.
In the Week 3 matchup, Hayes, Burke and Geiselsöder combined for 54 points, but no points from Vanloo, plus permitting Zaragoza to score 27 points in the fourth quarter, doomed Mersin to defeat. Zaragoza was led by the Leite-Pueyo duo, with Leite leading the club with 22 points and Pueyo contributing 15 points and eight rebounds.
Either DVTK or Olympiacos and one of Mersin or Zaragoza will join VBW Gydina and Sopron Basket, the eliminated clubs from Groups A and B, in EuroCup Women. Gydina exits EuroLeague Women as the competition’s least competitive team, having already been outscored by 140 points in five losses. Likewise winless Sopron has not been much better, with a point differential of -89.
At the other end of the spectrum, Galatasary and Girona, like Fenerbahçe, easily advanced into the second round in undefeated fashion. How motivated will the three clubs be to maintain their perfect marks? With Galatasaray, now with Marine Johannès, up against the already-eliminated Sopron, they, similar to Fenerbahçe’s spot against Olympiacos, might not need much motivation to secure another win. And even though Bourges is a second-round team, they could struggle to fare much better against Girona, having fallen by 30 points in the previous game between the two clubs.
