MUNICH (EuroLeague Women) - Our women's basketball specialist Paul Nilsen gives us his take on the first EuroLeague Women action of the new calendar year.

A SPORTING HIGH FROM MACCHI
Beretta Famila Schio lost a heartbreaker 74-73 at ZVVZ USK Prague. They were beaten by the finest of margins, but left the Czech capital with their heads held high after a nice performance, taking into account key absences.

The person who should be prouder than anyone else is Italian veteran Laura Macchi. With just five minutes left of an intense and hugely important game, she went to the referee and overturned an out of bounds call which had been given in favour of Schio, so the ball would be handed to Prague instead.

It was a great sporting gesture which so many others would not have bothered to do.

MORE TO COME FROM VADEEVA
When I tweeted about the merits of Maria Vadeeva going a mesmerising 11-of-11 for Dynamo Kursk, I got some comments back about it 'only being against Uni Gyor'. That doesn’t dilute the accomplishment much at all in my eyes. 

Vadeeva was on-fire for Kursk in the match-up with Gyor

Sometimes I think we forget that Vadeeva is still a teenager as she continues to impress with every turn. To have this level of consistency in any EuroLeague Women game takes hard work, concentration and dedication. Her 100% shooting performance was the best of any player in the competition this season.

Long may it continue, because she is one of women's basketball's absolute treasures and I will continue to shine a light on her excellent contributions – no matter who they might come against.

DEFENSIVE DUELS CAN BE FUN TOO
Not everyone wants to see 'run and gun' basketball all the time. With this in mind, I thought the game between Perfumerias Avenida and Nadezhda was hugely enjoyable and fascinating because of the defense and tactical duel.

The defensive aggression of Avenida in the opening 15 minutes was tremendous and they held Nadezhda to just 14 points in that time, swarming all over them at every opportunity. But, to their absolute credit, the visitors from Orenburg turned the tables by shutting down Avenida to win 60-49.

To hold the Spanish team to less than 50 points in any situation is astonishing and to do so at Pabellon Wurzburg where they had not previously lost and especially after such a slow start was top class.

By the way - congratulations to the Avenida fans.

THE WEEKLY GONGS
Team Performance of the Week: While huge credit is due to ZVVZ USK Prague for the way they came back against Schio, I am handing the award to Nadezhda for their terrific success in Salamanca against Avenida. Especially because of the poor way they started, the fact Avenida had not previously lost at home and for only giving up 49 points.
Individual Performance of the Week: I really can't look past a young player going 11-of-11 from the floor, so Vadeeva gets the nod!
Unsung Hero: It's Alena Hanusova for me. I watched her have such a roller-coaster game for Prague. When it looked like the game was slipping away from the home side against Schio, she gave up an 'and-1' play and then moments later, she fouled again - this time at the offensive end. It really was not going her way. But instead of hiding or allowing it to drain her confidence, she rose to the mental challenge and hit two huge shots down the stretch to take Prague to a pulsating 74-73 success.

NUMBER CRUNCHING

• Fenerbahce passed a major milestone against Mersin as they became the first team this season to hand out 30 assists in an individual game. 
• Both Birsel Vardarli Demirmen of Fenerbahce and Nilay Kartaltepe of Mersin joined the double-digit club for assists with 11 and 10 respectively.
• Fenerbahce also produced the best shooting performance in the tournament this season with 62.7%.
• Yvonne Turner had the misfortune to become the first player this season to spill the ball in double-figures. She committed 11 turnovers against ESBVA-LM.
• Olivia Epoupa and Adaora Elonu joined the season-best list of six steals in a game when they achieved the feat with ESBVA-LM and Perfumerias Avenida respectively.

FOOTNOTES

• It was a nice win for Bourges Basket as they stopped the rather worrying rot of four straight defeats by beating Hatay at Le Prado. I enjoyed a sweet little move by rising star Alexia Chartereau as she once again demonstrated her potential.
• Fenerbahce trio Jantel Lavender, Anastasiya Verameyneka and Pelin Bilgic were on fire against Mersin and combined for 55 points from a dazzling 75% from the floor. Congratulations to Bilgic in particular who was a perfect six-of-six!

You can follow Paul @basketmedia365

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