MUNICH (Germany) - There were some outstanding individual displays on the opening night of the EuroCup Women Qualifiers, with both Angela Salvadores and Reka Dombai showing their quality for their respective teams.
They went to work in style for Lointek Gernika Bizkaia and TARR KSC Szekszard, with two other clubs also racking up victories ahead of the return games next Wednesday and Thursday.
Meanwhile, there was also a rare tied matchup between BBC Troistorrents Chablais and SBS Ostrava.
Go-time for Gernika as they step towards Regular Season
Spanish outfit Lointek Gernika Bizkaia look like they already have a foot in the Regular Season after they completed a dominant 90-57 triumph at PAS Giannina. Racing into a 26-12 first quarter lead, they never had cause to look back.
Angela Salvadores was sensational and ended up with a majestic double-double of 19 points and 11 assists. Meanwhile, Germany national team star Emily Bessoir impressed with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Dombai unstoppable for Szeksard
Hungarian national team guard Reka Dombai made everyone sit up and take notice as she dropped a 30-piece for TARR KSC Szekszard as they came from behind to beat first-timers DSK Basketball Brandys 81-69.
Dombai showed out to help her team recover from a slow start, although will still have some work to do in next week's return game. That's mainly due to experienced forward Alena Hanusova, who kept Brandys in the tie thanks to her excellent contribution of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Sizzling Sassari sweep aside Panathlitikos
BDS Dinamo Sassari made light work of sailing past Panathlitikos Sykeon 72-56 on the road as Dutch forward Kourtney Treffers starred with an impactful 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Dominant on the glass, the visitors controlled the game and it means that their Greek opponents will need to create a huge upset to overhaul the deficit. Kelsey Ransom fired 24 points in defeat for Panathlitikos.
Tesic takes UZKK Student to success
A super 11 of 14 shooting display from Nina Tesic was the highlight for Serbian debutantes UZKK Student who rode their way to a 93-78 home win against Universitatea Cluj. She stepped off court with a stellar 26 points, while her teammate Nadezda Nedeljkov also shone brightly with 19 points. Cluj would be in real trouble and potentially out of the tie had it not been for an outstanding 21 points and 13 boards from Lauryn Taylor.
No separating Swiss and Czech duo
There was a 65-65 tied contest between BBC Troistorrents-Chablais and SBS Ostrava as both teams struggled to find any daylight in a keenly fought battle which saw as many as 11 lead changes.
Hana Ivanusa finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for BBC, while Iva Belosevic paced Ostrava with 16 points and 11 boards.
FIBA