Game of the Week: Beretta Famila Schio eye redemption against Spar Girona

SCHIO (Italy) - While Beretta Famila Schio have very impressively been one of the longest consecutive competitors in the EuroLeague Women Regular Season, a Final Four ticket has not been as common as the Italians would have liked.

Last season they looked to be on course for the Quarter-Finals and after that, who knows? But, their dream was shattered by Spar Girona, in one of the most dramatic games of the campaign as the Spanish side squeezed through the Group phase in the last second, at the expense of their Italian rivals.

It means that this early matchup for this new season provides Schio with an opportunity of redemption - or maybe even revenge for those still in the lineup that had to endure the heartbreak of not advancing to the last eight.

The live broadcast of the game between Beretta Famila Schio and Spar Girona with commentary, will be freely available on the EuroLeague Women YouTube and on Facebook at 19:30 CET on Thursday, October 14.

Form guide: Beretta Famila Schio are 1-0 in the Regular Season having brutally dismantled Basket Landes last week and they are 3-0 in total if you include their impressive wins during the Qualifiers against Valencia and Bourges. Domestically they won the Italian SuperCup and have opened up the league season with two big victories.

Spar Girona lost their first EuroLeague Women game last week on their home court in a tight game against Sopron. They are also 2-2 in the Spanish Liga Feminina with head coach Alfred Juble having to apologize to fans after last weekend's 68-46 defeat to Promete. 

Last meeting: Schio actually won that last encounter 77-74 but needed a margin of two points more to advance because of the first meeting. A Natalie Achonwa shot rimmed out at the buzzer on an otherwise amazing night for her personally and Girona survived. 

Key matchup: Somebody from Girona had better put a lock on Schio star Sandrine Gruda as the classy French center looks like she is ready to make more moves and rack up more big numbers in this one. She is chasing the third place in the competition's All-Time Rebounding list and is only a few boards  away from getting to it. Julia Reisingerova could be the person tasked with matching up and the Czech baller also has enough in her own skills locker to provide some headaches for Schio.

X-factor: On paper at least this does not look like one that will be be overly high-scoring but with each possession precious, the team that takes better care of the ball will have a huge advantage. 

Wednesday, October 13

Group A
MBA Moscow v ZVVZ USK Praha - 17:00 CET
KSC Szekszard v BLMA - 18:00 CET
Perfumerias Avenida Salamanca v TTT Riga - 20:30 CET
Group B
Dynamo Kursk v Galatasaray - 17:00 CET
VBW Arka Gdynia v Sopron Basket - 18.00 CET
Fenerbahce Safiport v Basket Landes - 18.00 CET

Thursday, October 14

Group A
UMMC Ekaterinburg v Reyer Venezia - 16:00 CET
Group B
Beretta Famila Schio v Basket Landes - 19:30 CET

FIBA