ZVVZ USK Praha end Perfumerias Avenida win streak, Dikaioulakos piles pressure on Fenerbahce

MUNICH (Germany) - The unbeaten start of Perfumerias Avenida was brought to a shuddering halt in Prague, while Famila Schio coach Giorgios Dikaioulakos condemned his former team Fenerbahce to a 2-3 record.

Wednesday night certainly witnessed some intriguing talking points and none more so than ZVVZ USK Praha ending the winning streak of Perfumerias Avenida in brutal fashion with a superb 80-55 home success.

They crushed their opponents with a massive 33 points off turnovers as Avenida spilled the ball 24 times and had a shooting night to forget.

Teja Oblak pulled the strings with a smart show in the backcourt, as Alyssa Thomas also handed out a stellar 11 assists. With Maria Conde dropping a team-high 21 points from the wing, they improved to 3-2 off the back of a strong team effort.

Meanwhile, another headline was made by Beretta Famila Schio and notably head coach Giorgios Dikaioulakos, who heaped the pressure on his ex-employers by leading his team to a hard-fought 64-60 victory against Fenerbahce Safiport. 

"I'm proud of my players because they beat a team designed to win Euroleague Women," he declared,

"Today we chose to play aggressive only in some moments and this confused our opponents because they couldn't realize where the help was coming from."

The result improved Schio to 2-3, but that same record was far from expected for the Istanbul giants after five games. While Kayla McBride poured in 27 points for them, it wasn't enough and largely because of a super offering from Schio center Sandrine Gruda. She also haunted her old club by shooting 80 percent from the field en-route to 17 points while also harvesting 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.

"We knew Famila Schio is one of the most effective teams in the EuroLeague Women," said Fenerbahce head coach Victor Lapena. "They have really quality players and especially under the rim. Sandrine Gruda played very effectively tonight. We had chances to win the game but we could not."

"As I have said before, the EuroLeague Women Regular Season is a long period and we are only at the beginning now and we are still waiting for Satou (Sabally) and Bria (Hartley). I hope we will be better for the next games," added Lapena.

Sopron Basket returned to winning ways but almost lost a massive 24-point advantage against Dynamo Kursk as they eventually eased their way to a 79-72 victory. 

It looked like the game was almost done and dusted after just 10 minutes as Sopron posted a massive 30-9 first period headlined by a 19-0 spurt to start the game, but Kursk came roaring back to set up an exciting conclusion. 

Gabby Williams and Sheylani Peddy helped Sopron get the job done with the former weighing in with 23 points and 9 rebounds, while also hitting a huge triple to ease the nerves of the home fans with 90 seconds. Meanwhile, Peddy added 19 points and 6 boards.

UMMC Ekaterinburg moved to a perfect 5-0 and are the only side yet to taste defeat in the competition after they extended the winless agony of KSC Szekszard with an 82-67 success in Hungary. 

Jonquel Jones continued her impressive form with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, while guard Allie Quigley scored 16 points from the backcourt. 

Serbian center Nikolina Milic was excellent for the hosts with 21 points and 11 rebounds,  but the superior depth of the visitors was a big factor.

Massimo Romano was relieved of his duties on the eve of Umana Reyer facing MBA Moscow after a significant domestic defeat but things didn't improve as the Italian champions slumped to 1-4 after losing a nerve-shredding encounter 62-61 at home.

Even the first appearance in the competition of marquee signing Astou Ndour was not enough to inspire a turnaround in form as MBA celebrated only their second ever Regular Season win. It was largely facilitated by a shared 30 points from Elena Kirillova and Zhosselina Maiga.

A 15-point and 11-rebound performance from Haley Peters paced BLMA past TTT Riga 63-54 as the French team jumped out on their rivals from the tip. While Riga rallied after the interval, BLMA composed themselves down the stretch to take the win.

Finally, Basket Landes made it a French double by beating VBW Arka Gdynia 79-70 and it was a one-two punch from Sophie Cunningham and Regan Magarity that got things over the line for the hosts.

Cunningham finished the game with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, with Magarity contributing 11 points and 10 boards.

FIBA