Galatasaray climb atop Group B with statement win, first road success for Schio

MUNICH (Germany) - Galatasaray continued their impressive form on Wednesday night with a fourth consecutive victory to take pole position in Group B, while Beretta Famila Schio finally won on their travels.

Galatasaray took leadership of the group away from Sopron Basket with a hard-fought 67-61 triumph that was paced by Latvian forward Anete Steinberga.

With center Bernadett Hatar a real handful for Sopron and dropping 19 points and 14 rebounds, it was even more imperative that Galatasaray had their own weapon in the paint. Steinberga duly  delivered with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. The home defense was also priceless as they held the visitors to just 6 points in the third quarter to get onto the front foot. 

In Group A, Beretta Famila Schio banked their first road win of the Regular Season after they stormed their way past Dynamo Kursk 93-74 to improve to 3-3.

Capitalizing on the absence of Kursk centerpiece Eva Lisec, who is out injured, Sandrine Gruda was magnificent for the Italian visitors, shooting the lights out with a spectacular 11 of 12 shooting effort for 25 points, while also returning 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Jasmine Keys provided valuable support with 17 points and 9 rebounds, as she also missed only one shot all night.

Elsewhere in Group A, ZVVZ USK Praha exposed a gulf in class and depth against TTT Riga as they rolled past their opponents 103-52 to record the highest points tally of any team so far this season.

There was a trio of standout displays with Alyssa Thomas, Maria Conde and Dragana Stankovic. Thomas claimed 20 points and 9 rebounds, Conde top-scored with 25 points and pulled down 8 boards, while Stankovic had a 13-point and 10-rebound double-double - as well as five blocked shots. 

UMMC Ekaterinburg kept their perfect start to the season intact with a sixth straight victory, although they had to come from behind to get it done 84-63 against domestic rivals MBA Moscow. Trailing by 8 points after the opening quarter, UMMC clicked through the gears and jumped into control with a mammoth 31-13 second period.

As usual, Jonquel Jones continued to breath fire for the reigning champions and harvested 17 points and 14 rebounds, with Maria Vadeeva also on-song in the frontcourt with a double-double of 19 points and 11 boards.

Fenerbahce Safiport got back on track in Group B after three losses in their past four games by strolling to an 87-70 victory at VBW Arka Gdynia. Alina Iagupova delivered her usual big show with a fantastic 28 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals. 

The Istanbul giants dropped a massive 17 triples in the contest, with five of them coming from Kayla McBride who finished with 22 points. Elizabeth Williams was also influential with 15 points and 11 rebounds. 

Spar Girona breathed a sigh of relief as they held off a late rescue bid from Basket Landes to prevail 80-71 in France. Kennedy Burke was the heartbeat for the visitors like usual, serving up a blistering 28 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals. An important cameo was also played by Julia Reisingerova with 15 points and 10 boards.

Recently appointed Umana Reyer playcaller Andrea Mazzon collected his first ever win in the competition as the Italian side ended a worrying four-game losing streak by beating BLMA 79-59.

They got the job done thank mainly to a powerful one-two punch from center Gintare Petronyte and point guard Yvonne Anderson. The former contributed an all-action 16 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists, with Anderson inspirational from the backcourt with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. 

Finally, Perfumerias Avenida were too strong for the still winless KSC Szekszard as the Spanish champions coasted to a 96-54 home success. They locked down the Hungarians defensively and were fuelled by Kahleah Copper scoring 25 points.

FIBA