Schio (EuroLeague Women 2017) - Our next profile of those teams competing in EuroLeague Women 2017 brings us to Italian powerhouse Beretta Famila Schio, who have been almost ever presents in the competition for more than two decades.

Last season: Head coach Miguel Mendez carried Schio to their best-ever Regular Season record at 10-4, but they went off the boil and flopped in the post-season against ZVVZ USK Prague to miss out on the Final Four.

Roster: The one thing with Schio is that you can always guarantee a nice Italian core and this year it's no different, with Giorgia Sottana and Giulia Gatti returning to the guard spots. On the wings, there will be the usual combination of youth and experience with rising star Cecilia Zandalasini and veteran duo Raffaella Masciadri and Laura Macchi. Kathrin Ress is also back on board under the hoop and is joined again by Les Bleus favourite Isabelle Yacoubou.

New to the team is another French star in power forward Endene Miyem, which gives a nice looking rotation in the paint. Always a threat from the perimeter or driving to the basket, Jolene Anderson can continue to be a difference-maker after re-signing, with the big arrival in the backcourt being the vastly experienced Spanish playmaker Nuria Martinez who played for the club earlier in her career.

Key player: Endy Miyem is arguably the most underrated player in the women’s game - bar none. She arrives having played most of her career in EuroLeague Women at Tango Bourges and then last season at Dynamo Kursk. She brings solidity and will be an absolute anchor in the paint and being able to team-up with Yacoubou gives Schio a hard-nosed look which has not necessarily been there in previous seasons.

'X-Factor': After signing off her youth career in spectacular style by taking the MVP award in Matosinhos at the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship, all eyes will be on Cecilia Zandalasini who is a brilliant talent and now has the task of showing she can establish herself as a senior player and morph into a EuroLeague Women star.

She's the future of Italian basketball and if she can push on from her breath-taking displays in Portugal, that will be great news for Schio.

Stat attack: During the 2015-16 Regular Season, Schio were outstanding on the offensive glass and out-posted three of the best four single game efforts in this area - twice racking up more than 20 offensive boards.

Social media stars: Look no further than Isabelle Yacoubou [shaqoubou] on Intstagram and Raffaella Masciadri [Mascia80] on twitter.

Outlook: Schio have nothing to fear because they showed last season they could get big wins such as ending the long winning streak of Fenerbahce in Istanbul and beating a stacked Dynamo Kursk side on their own floor. It’s all about consistency and they can be a dangerous side if their main rotation are on-song. They will be hoping they can push for the top four and might be disappointed if they fall don’t manage to live up to the positives of last season. The continuity they have is important and that includes Coach Mendez who has done a good job since arriving a few seasons ago.

FIBA