Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Ros Casares Living Up to “Title Favorites” Tag

Powerhouse squads Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, and Ros Casares are proving why they are considered as title favorites after posting impressive victories in the lone game day of the EuroLeague Women Season this week.

Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce displayed terrific firepower to hammer out an impressive 72-60 win over Nadezhda to stay as the only undefeated team in the ongoing EuroLeague Women season.

Fenerbahce had lots of troubles dealing with their pesky opponents and later found themselves trailing by eight points, 42-34, early in the third period.

However, Angel McCoughtry provided a huge lift and sparked a huge run to erase the deficit and eventually took a 58-50 lead heading into the final period.

Nadezhda had their moments in the final period as they tried to bounce back, but they failed as Fenerbahce rolled on to win their 11th straight game this season.

“In the beginning our game was weak, and Nadezhda started the game in a very smart way,” said Fenerbahce coach George Dikeoulakos. “Fortunately, we got our emotions during the game, we started to play more brave and aggressive basketball and won in the end.”

McCoughtry led all scorers with 24 points on 11-for-15 shooting, while Penny Taylor and Zane Tamane added 10 points apiece with the latter adding eight rebounds for Fenerbahce.

Meanwhile, Fenerbahce’s arch-rival in Turkey, Galatasaray, also had an impressive outing as they escaped with a hard-earned 81-74 win over Bourges Basket.

Losing Spanish star Alba Torrens to a season-ending knee injury, Epifaniya Prints provided the much-needed lift for Galatasaray as she erupted for season-high 28 points, while Tina Charles added 25 points and seven rebounds.

The win was the 11th in 13 games for Galatasaray this season and is currently sharing Group-A lead with Ros Casares, who also scored a huge victory this week.

Spanish powerhouse Ros Casares Valencia leaned on a balance attack to take down UMMC Ekaterinburg, 81-63, scoring their first win in Ekaterinburg.

Isabelle Yacoubou was firing on all cylinders as she finished with 16 points in just 17 minutes, while Lauren Jackson and Anne Wauters added 15 points each, with the latter grabbing eight rebounds for Ros Casares, who improved to 11-2 this season.

“We were strong on defense and in one on one plays,” said Ros Casares coach Roberto Iniguez. “Ekaterinburg is a strong team and it was a good test for us. We could play with no rush to win in every moment.”

Complete EuroLeague Women Results (January 25, 2012)

• Galatasaray 81 – 74 Bourges Basket
• ZVVZ USK Prague 74 – 63 Uni Seat Gyor
• UE Sopron 69 – 54 Beretta-Famila
• Sparta&K Moscow 77 – 53 CB Taranto
• Gospic CO 73 – 62 Frisco Brno
• UMMC Ekaterinburg 63 – 81 Ros Casares
• Nadezhda 60 – 72 Fenerbahce
• Good Angels Kosice 70 – 61 BLMA
• VICI Aistes 60 – 74 Lotos Gdynia
• Rivas Ecopolis 71 – 66 Wisla Can-Pack
• Tarbes GB 96 – 99 CCC Polkowice