ROANNE (EuroLeague Women 2017) – It may only be a pre-season trophy but beating EuroLeague Women and domestic rivals Villeneuve d’Ascq at L’Open Roannais is a big deal for a new-look Tango Bourges Basket.

Although perhaps rather ironically, it was some of the more familiar faces that got the job done and led Bourges to a thrilling 80-78 success against last year’s EuroCup Women Final opponents.

Diandra Tchatchouang showed she is back on top form after spending much of last season injured on the sidelines as she poured in 17 points. Meanwhile perhaps stung by missing out on Rio, Ana Filip fired 23 points to lead her team to victory and it was a performance which resulted in her being named MVP of the tournament.

There was also a double-digit score for Great Britain star Johannah Leedham, whose leadership skills recently saw head coach Valerie Garnier opt to name her long-serving and trusted lieutenant as team captain in the wake of the summer departure of Celine Dumerc.

Their triumph is also a major boost ahead of the curtain-raising LFB Open at the start of next month, which gets the domestic campaign in France rolling.

Earlier in the competition in Roanne, Bourges romped past Lyon 79-57 with Marine Johannes dropping 18 points, showing why she was one of the main talking points from the Olympics last month and why she could be the main rising star to watch in EuroLeague Women this season.

FIBA