EuroCup Women - Round of 8 First Leg Review
NANTES (EuroCup Women) - Queralt Casas has drifted in and out of the Spain squad in recent years but some red-hot displays in EuroCup Women may have put her right back in the middle of the national team ra
NANTES (EuroCup Women) - Queralt Casas has drifted in and out of the Spain squad in recent years but some red-hot displays in EuroCup Women may have put her right back in the middle of the national team radar.
The electrifying and versatile wing poured in 20 points for Nantes Reze in the first leg of the EuroCup Women Round of 8, as the French side squeezed out an absorbing 60-57 victory against Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje.
1r partido 1/8 de final #EuroCupWomen @DeferlantesNRB 60-57 Sparta&K Queralt: 20pts, 4reb.. https://t.co/KlV2Vgf7sb pic.twitter.com/Gt1S7pwJEr
— Web QueraltCasas9 (@QueraltCasasWeb) January 28, 2016
Playing her club basketball in the city where the 2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) will be held would make it extra special for Casas to step out for her country at the event, but for now she has to see if she can help her team successfully defend their slender advantage in Vidnoje.
Maria Vadeeva racked up a near double-double of 18 points and 9 rebounds for Sparta&K, with the teenage ace someone else who would love to play in the WOQT - only Russia were agonisingly edged out for the last ticket at EuroBasket Women 2015 by Turkey.
In the other EuroCup Women Round of 8 first leg games, there was a scintillating 24 points and 13 rebounds for Croatia national team powerhouse Luca Ivankovic who catapulted Besiktas JK to a 75-67 win against Reyer Venezia in Istanbul.
MAÇ SONUCU Beşiktaş:75 Reyer Venezia:67 Tebrikler #PotanınDişiKartalları... pic.twitter.com/Q685GMDSWV
— Beşiktaş JK Basket (@BJK_Basketbol) January 28, 2016
Things could have been much worse for the Italian visitors, but having found themselves down by as many as 13 inside the last quarter, their renaissance down the stretch gives them renewed hope of overturning the deficit.
One team who are unlikely to be able to recover are first-time entrants UFAB49, who hit a watertight defensive wall when they matched up against domestic rivals Basket Landes.
The Angers side found themselves on the wrong end of a 55-37 shutout. And on a good night for Croatian players, Iva Sliskovic led Landes to their road win with a smart 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Finally, there is no stopping Aluinvent Miskolc who successfully maintained the only unbeaten record in the competition - although only just, as they completed a ninth straight win with a hard-fought 69-64 win at rookie side Basketball Nymburk.
Hungarian duo Orsolya Szecsi and Dora Horti did the business with the former adding 13 points and eight rebounds and Horti contributing 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Go to www.fibaeurope.com/eurocupwomen for full coverage of EuroCup Women.
FIBA