ZAGREB (EuroBasket Women 2015) - Having a EuroBasket Women debut with Croatia to look forward to could be a perfect way for Shavonte Zellous to get over her EuroLeague Women Final Four disappointment.

Having experienced the high of winning the title last year in Ekaterinburg at the Final Eight with former club Galatasaray odeabank, the guard headed back to Istanbul empty handed this time after Fenerbahce fell twice in Prague.

However, having recently been naturalised by Croatia, Zellous is ready to show what she can do for her adopted nation when the action gets underway in Szombathely, Hungary.

I'm very excited about the prospect of being a part of EuroBasket Women. - Zellous

"It will be a new experience for me and we can hopefully make a bid to reach the Olympics in Rio next year," said the 28-year-old.

"I really can't wait to join the team ahead of the tournament."

Before she can think about dipping her toes into international waters, she must firstly help Fenerbahce focus on recapturing their TKBL title.

The Turkish giants must move on swiftly from their underwhelming finish to the EuroLeague Women campaign and concentrate on a major Istanbul derby series and maybe two against her former clubs.

Losing the Final Four Semi-Final was actually heart-breaking. - Zellous

"We went with the minimum aim of playing in the Final, but it didn't work out that way," said the 1.78m guard.

"I think overall we played hard, but we just didn't have the rotation we needed.

"It's now going to be difficult in the TKBL play-offs, since the Turkish league is full of tough players and tough teams.

"Hopefully we can get to the Finals and it would be amazing for me if we do get to play against Galatasaray.

"We have Besiktas to deal with first during these Quarter-Finals games and we have lost twice during the regular season to them, so we need to be ready," she warned.

Go to eurobasketwomen2015.com for full coverage of EuroBasket Women 2015.

FIBA