Finals preview: Will it be history for ASVEL or a third title for Galatasaray?

MUNICH (Germany) - The EuroCup Women Finals promises plenty as Galatasaray Cagdas Factoring bid to become the second club to win the silverware three times, while LDLC ASVEL Feminin chase their first title. 

A total of 15 different clubs have been crowned champions during the 19 previous EuroCup Women seasons - so will ASVEL make it number 16?

Played over two legs, the French team will have home advantage first on Wednesday April 5 at 20:00 CET, with the return game taking place a week later in Istanbul on March 12 at 19:00 CET.

Galatasaray Cagdas Factoring v LDLC ASVEL Feminin

Form guide: Galatasaray are 11-3 in EuroCup Women this season, actually losing their last outing in the Semi-Finals second leg against Umana which snapped a winning streak of 10 games. Domestically, Galatasaray finished in third place in the Regular Season with a 20-6 record and look favorites to move past Nesibe Aydin in the Play-Off Quarter-Finals.

LDLC ASVEL Feminin have a 12-2 season record in EuroCup Women and enter the Finals having won nine of those games in a row. In the French league, they are top of the standings and come into the Finals having powered past EuroLeague Women Quarter-Finalists, Bourges by 90-76.

Key matchup: The veteran experience of Sandrine Gruda is going to be priceless for Lyon in what could be one of the matchups of the entire EuroCup Women season as she gets to work against Teaira McCowan in the paint. Having spent a part of the season on the sidelines injured, Gruda is back healthy and  comes into these Finals having posted a season-best display in the Semi-Finals - reminding everyone of her class and ability to influence games.

Sandrine Gruda will use all of her quality and experience against three-time monthly MVP Teaira McCowan

McCowan will be looking to wrap up what has been a stunning individual year with a team success. She has just scooped the MVP award for March - the third time she has taken the honor in the last four months and is a walking double-double. Some of McCowan's numbers have been eye-popping, but against Gruda she will face the kind of know-how she has not really had all year. Plus, Helena Ciak also knows how to get it done when Gruda is resting. It will be a fascinating battle on the glass in particular. 

X-factor: This could be a classic Finals matchup and it may well be decided by fine margins and the smallest of details. However, there is no doubt that ASVEL simply must rebound better defensively and keep Galatasaray off that offensive glass. With more than 15 second chance points per game, that is a big number for the Turkish team. If ASVEL can reduce this significantly, it would give them such a boost and seriously blunt an important source of their opponents' scoring. 

On the flipside, Galatasaray will need to sharpen their perimeter defense since ASVEL are the best three-point shooting team in the competition and are only just short of an impressive 40 percent conversion rate from downtown. The main danger is the tough to guard Marine Johannes who is heading for 50 triples this season if she drops three more in these last two games.

Did you know? Influential Belgian ace Julie Allemand has been ruled out of appearing for ASVEL in the Finals because of an injury - something that could prove a big blow.

ASVEL center Helena Ciak won the competition in 2016 with Tango Bourges Basket, while Isil Alben was part of the Galatasaray title-winning teams in 2009 and 2018.

Only one other Turkish club has been crowned champions - other than Galatasaray - as Yakin Dogu Universitesi won in 2017, while ASVEL would become the fourth French club to take the silverware after Tango Bourges Basket (2022 and 2016), ESBVA-LM (2015) and Aix en Provence during the inaugural season (2003).

FIBA