Joy for three as Valencia, Polkowice and Tango Bourges move into Round of 8

MUNICH (Germany) - There were celebrations for title holders Valencia BC, BC Polkowice and Tango Bourges who all advanced to the EuroCup Women Round of 8 with second-leg wins on Thursday night.

The trio joined Olympiacos SFP, who were the first team to progress 24 hours earlier, and there was particular relief for Valencia, since the reigning champions had lost their first meeting against Orman Genclik.

However, Valencia made light work of turning around the tie and the modest two-point gap by delivering an 86-73 second leg success. The veteran know-how of Cristina Ouvina was important as she starred with 17 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds. Meanwhile Teaira McCowan amassed 20 points and 15 rebounds in defeat.

Polkowice wondered if they had done enough by winning their first encounter with Nadezhda by just three points, but another close matchup never materialized. The visitors went off in Orenburg and claimed an impressive 87-68 victory. 

Polkowice made it rain from long-range with 14 triples, while Greek national team leader Artemis Spanou returned a superb 21 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. There was also a near triple-double for Erica Wheeler with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

Meanwhile Tango Bourges, who already had a comfortable 30-point advantage in the bag against Zabiny Brno from last week's first leg, finished the job in style on their home floor.

The French side won 94-55 at Le Prado as rising star Iliana Rupert produced a career night. The center racked up a stellar performance efficiency valuation of 27 points after scoring 27 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

Finally, the second-leg game between LDLC ASVEL Feminin and Nika Syktyvkar was postponed earlier in the day because of disruptions related to COVID-19.

FIBA