EuroCup Women Preview: Group B
MUNICH (EuroCup Women 2017) – With the EuroCup Women Qualifiers done and dusted, we're taking a look at what lies in store during the Regular season and it’s now the turn of Group B.
After spending recent seasons competing in EuroLeague Women, Agu Spor find themselves making a return to the EuroCup Women Regular Season and as one of the front-runners for silverware after attracting some of the biggest names in the women's game to Kayseri. They will have one of the best frontcourts around after they re-signed naturalised Turkish national team powerhouse Lara Sanders and Croatian center Mirna Mazic. Crucially, they also made a double swoop for the legendary Ann Wauters and Montenegrin WNBA player Jelena Dubljevic, who both played at Galatasaray last season.
That shows their intent at trying to make it third-time lucky in the competition having lost consecutive EuroCup Women Finals in 2012 and 2013. Aysegul Gunay makes a return to the city having been part of the Kayseri team which sealed an historic first appearance at the EuroLeague Women Final Eight. The club is also going back to the future by bringing in Tanisha Wright, whose all-action style will complement the free-scoring Chelsea Gray, who has been handed another season after lighting it up last year. However, it's been a disappointing calendar year and at least with this roster, there looks to be much better things on the horizon for 2017.
PINKK Pesci 424 are enduring a poor start to the domestic season in the Hungarian League and that could affect their confidence on their European adventures as they prepare for what will be a fourth straight campaign in the EuroCup Women Regular Season. It’s all change as well, with the club waving goodbye to their top four scorers in last season’s competition but at least bringing back some home-grown solidity in Nora Rujak and Nikolett Gemes-Sarok. The main thrust this year should come from American imports Aaliyah Whiteside and Talia Walton. There's also a place for Nevena Markovic who played in Liga Femenina last year with Gran Canaria.
There are two big derby games to look forward to in the Group after arch rivals PEAC-Pecs manoeuvred their way out of the Qualifiers – although only just, after having to make up a 10-point first leg deficit against Piestanske Cajky. Now safely arriving in this main phase, watch out for Jessica Kuster, a forward who is the focal point for the team and can put up big numbers in any game. Alongside her in the frontcourt is Lithuanian pivot Egle Siksniute, as well as Zsofia Licskai. There's also a real rising talent to keep an eye out for in 1999-born Dorka Juhasz who has shown plenty for her country at youth level. Meanwhile, former Serbian youth star Sanja Mandic is shining so far in the backcourt, operating alongside the experienced Krisztina Raksanyi and Diana Furesz who have seen and done it in EuroLeague Women. Dorina Zele has also got game and that has shown itself for the Hungary senior team.
Finally, MBA Moscow are another of this season's rookie entrants and their progress will be interesting to follow as they are a team based in the very heart of the Russian capital and made up entirely of Russian players. Yet they have shown how competitive they can be domestically after a nice 2015-16 campaign and having only been beaten by a single point earlier in the current campaign by EuroLeague Women 2016 Finalists, Nadezhda Orenburg. That underlines the fact they have the key ingredients of continuity and chemistry, with last year’s three main contributors and scorers all back on board in Ekaterina Syntak, Anna Leshkovtseva and Olga Gorbacheva, which means they can’t be taken for granted and could be a dark horse within this group.
FIBA
