EuroCup Women Preview: Thursday 16 February
MUNICH (EuroCup Women) – It promises to be an exciting EuroCup Women day of action on Thursday with three Quarter-Finals tickets waiting to be validated.
Galatasaray are favorites to advance to the last eight of the competition after the Turkish giants picked up a handy 77-67 first leg win on the road at Virtus Eirene Ragusa to maintain their unbeaten campaign.
However, despite the positive outcome against a team which had a passionate and raucous home following, head coach Marina Maljkovic is being cautious ahead of the second match-up with the Italians.
She said: "We know how difficult it was to play at Ragusa in front of those noisy fans and with an almost-full Arena.
"They made a great atmosphere and so we have to also win the game in Istanbul. We have to remember that we have not obtained qualification [to the Quarter-Finals] just yet."
Maljkovic will also be keen to ensure her team react positively to a rare Turkish league defeat last Sunday, when they were squeezed out by Adana Botas.
Reyer Venezia will also be intent on capitalizing on their first leg 65-56 shut-out of Yakin Dogu Universitesi and hoping that their 9-point cushion will prove sufficient to reach the last eight.
Meanwhile Good Angels Kosice are well placed to proceed after a fine 79-64 home win against VBW CEKK Cegled. But, after their disappointment last week, the Hungarian underdogs are looking to hit back and salvage the tie.
"We started well and in the second quarter, we actually reached a control of the game, but Kosice played very fast all of the time and our key players were very tired," reflected Cegled play-caller, Laszlo Cziczas.
"On our home court, we are a totally different team and so this will be a new game for us," he insisted.
FIBA
