Rio pair Stankovic and Snytsina key for rookies
HATAY (Euroleague Women 2017) – Very much the surprise package of last season in Turkish basketball, Hatay Buyuksehir are now six weeks away from a EuroLeague Women debut and looking for more inspiration.
Their best-ever domestic finish last season has paved the way for a first taste of playing against the continent’s elite clubs and that will be a big challenge for the club located in the far southern city of Antakya, near the Syrian border.
Entrusted with leading them into their rookie EuroLeague Women campaign are two players who competed at the recent Olympics in Rio and who will be pivotal in ensuring Hatay are as competitive as possible in Group B against the likes of reigning champions UMMC Ekaterinburg, fellow 2016 Finalists Nadezhda Orenburg Region and EuroCup Women winners, Tango Bourges Basket.
Dragana Stankovic makes a return to the competition having previously featured with Uniqa Sopron a couple of seasons ago and the Serbian center will certainly relish playing against her former club for multiple reasons – including the fact her national team colleagues Danielle Page and Aleksandra Crvendakic will be in the opposing line-up.
The move to Turkey looks more and more like the kind of opportunity Stankovic has needed to take her game to the next level. A stellar youth career culminated in her being drafted by the San Antonio Stars and now she has an Olympic bronze medal on her resume.
Helping her to integrate to her new surroundings will be Belarusian Katsiaryna Snytsina, who re-joins Hatay after being an essential figure in their rise to prominence last season when she averaged almost 12 points and five boards each outing – her importance further highlighted by her 31 minutes per game. That scoring power will be vital and she has the capacity to take her offensive production even higher.
However, it will be the vast experience of the wing star at international level that is of most significance for Hatay. While Snytsina has not played in EuroLeague Women since 2011-12, she boasts a record which sees her confirmed as a double Olympian off the back of her appearance in Rio, while she can also boast five appearances at a EuroBasket Women Final Round. She will also get to go up against her former team as she last stepped out in the competition with Nadezhda.
FIBA
