The 2023-24 EuroLeague Women championship game is set, with defending champs Fenerbahçe Alagöz Holding taking on first-time finalist Villeneuve-d’Ascq LM on Sunday, April 14.
Here’s how the clubs earned the right to play for the continental crown:
Villeneuve-d’Ascq LM over ZVVZ USK Praha, 84-78
The French are the dark horse of the tournament in Mersin, Turkey, but they definitely didn’t start the game as if they were just happy to be there. Villeneuve-d’Ascq were up by six points after some stellar, confident shooting by Kamiah Smalls and Shavonte Zellous. With the score 21-16, Valeriane Ayayi, the French international playing for Praha, first got a four-point play (a 3-pointer and a foul) and then scored a layup. The game continued to be close and with two seconds left in the first quarter and the French up by two points, Tereza Vyoralova put Praha up for the first time in the game, 27-26, with a 3-pointer.
The second quarter wasn’t as high scoring, nor as visually pleasing, but it continued to be tight. Nyara Sabally, who came off the bench for Praha, used her unique combination of size, strength and ball handling to score eight points, simply bullying opponents underneath the basket. When the New York Liberty forward went back to the bench, her teammates continued to play their game. Maite Cazorla’s passes were on target for Praha and before the break she had seven dimes to one turnover. The score was 43-37 at the half for Praha, with over half of their points scored by the duo of Ayayi (15 points) and Sabally (10 points). The Czech champs did particularly great on defense, holding Janelle Salaün to 2-of-7 from the floor.
Salaün rebounded after the halftime break and opened up the quarter with a 3-pointer. After a Kamiah Smalls fastbreak bucket, Villeneuve-d’Ascq was again ahead, showing no intention of slowing down. It was now Kariata Diaby’s turn to play bully ball for the French side. At one point, the 6-foot-4 Ivorian big even had to be reprimanded by the refs for getting too confrontational. Luckily, they allowed for physicality. Villeneuve-d’Ascq won the third quarter 26-19 and took a 63-62 edge into the final frame. Smalls had nine points, five rebounds and six assists, playing like a true Swiss Army knife, doing everything that was necessary for her team to win.
More importantly Salaün regained her rhythm and early in the fourth quarter caught Cazorla for her fourth foul of the game. This caused the Spaniard to slow down. Praha still had Ayayi, who was unstoppable. With five minutes left in the game and her team down by five, she had 24 points, five rebounds and four assists, making up for bad shooting nights from Cazorla, Conde and Magbegor. The three starters were 6-of-23 from the floor as the game was entering its final stages. However, with the score 74-67 for the French, it was Veronika Vorackova and Emese Hof who stepped up, and with two minutes left, Praha was down by one point, 78-79. After committing a huge mistake on defense, leaving Salaün unguarded under the basket and allowing an easy 2-pointer, Praha was losing 82-78. And after Smalls made two free throws, the French team was up 84-78. Smalls finished the game with 18 points (nine in the fourth quarter), six rebounds and seven assists. Diaby then was fouled, but missed two free throws. With 14 seconds left, Praha had the rebound, the ball and the time to score and foul. They did neither; the final play of the game was a missed layup by Cazorla. Villeneuve-d’Ascq will play in the final!
Fenerbahçe Alagöz Holding over Çukurova Basketbol Mersin, 89-80
This was the game everybody was waiting for: a rematch of the previous year’s final. Mersin had the homecourt advantage, but Fenerbahçe was at full strength with Emma Meesseman back. And how awesome was the game’s opening! Kahleah Copper had six points early, including a beautiful reverse layup. Kayla McBride threw an open challenge to Marina Mabrey, hitting a 2-point shot in her face only for Mabrey to respond with a 3-pointer during the next play. McBride’s next shot was a 3 that tied the game at 11. Mabrey’s response? A 3 made in her rival’s face. The game was far from a two-woman show, as Nikolina Milić scored five points over two-consecutive possessions, and Fenerbahçe was going crazy on the offensive glass, grabbing seven boards in the first 10 minutes. Fenerbahçe won the first quarter 27-20, partially thanks to crashing the boards and partially thanks to its shooting accuracy (52 percent to 42 percent).
In the second quarter, Mabrey became the first player on the court to score in double digits with 10 points and her team opened the quarter 6-0. For a couple of minutes, the game got unorganized, with bad passes, fouls and missed shots, but it continued to be close thanks to Kahleah Copper on Mersin and McBride on Fenerbahçe. The latter was ruthless, going 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Her signature unemotional demeanor after those makes contrasted with the fiery Mersin players, whose huddles were loud and emotional, just like the fans in the arena. Mabrey was especially fired up, getting her teammates involved and trying to throw the rivals off balance. Despite six turnovers in the quarter alone, Fenerbahçe still went to the locker room up, with the score 48-42.
In style, the third quarter was similar to the previous one. There were some incredible plays though, like Olivia Epoupa’s spin move for Mersin and McBride’s and-one response. The 5-foot-5 French guard was fearless. At one point, Epoupa even went to Mabrey to calm her down, after the American was trying to shoot her team back into the game. Fenerbahçe had their own relentless playmaker in Yvonne Anderson, who, at that point, had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists, and was driving to the basket against taller rivals. Whenever it seemed that the reigning champs would run away with the game, Mersin clawed back, like when Fenerbahçe was up by eight with two minutes left in the quarter. But soon, that lead was reduced to three points. And similarly, when it seemed that Mersin could tie the score, Fenerbahçe launched a 3—a turnaround by McBride this time—to keep safe distance from their Turkish rivals.
Entering the last 10 minutes of play, the score was 66-62 for Fenerbahçe. After back-to-back 3s, the champs were up by eight points, only for Mersin to reduce the lead to four points with seven minutes to go. Then, Mersin tied the score at 72 thanks to a reverse layup by Epoupa, who scored her 11th point of the game, becoming the fourth player on her team with 10 or more points. With Fenerbahçe up 76-74, there was a longer break in the game due to some rowdy fans in the courtside seats causing issues. The distraction worked, as Mersin again tied the score and Marina Mabrey got a steal and held the ball like her life depended on it. Her team failed to convert the possession into points, though. Fenerbahçe then scored, but Mersin failed to respond. Although Mavunga blocked a shot attempt on the next play, Fenerbahçe still scored courtesy of McBride. Anderson then drew a charge on Mavunga, who had been playing exceptional (16 points, seven rebounds) up until that point. Fenerbahçe converted an easy 2-pointer and they were up 83-76.
At this moment, with 2:30 left on the game clock, the game slipped away from Mersin. And with Copper and then Mabrey missing their forced 3-point attempts, it was basically over. An upset was close but the champs played… well, like champs. Fenerbahçe will have a chance at winning back-to-back titles. The heroism of Mersin’s effort was best represented by Epoupa falling to the floor and being carried away by the coaching staff. It remains to be seen whether we’ll see her in the 3rd-place game.
What to expect from Villeneuve-d’Ascq LM vs. Fenerbahçe Alagöz Holding
Villeneuve-d’Ascq LM are a team of underdogs, with special focus on the word team. Their fate in Sunday’s final will be decided not by a singular player but a number of them. If they can open the game in a strong manner as they did on Friday, establishing and then holding onto a lead, we might be in store for another surprise. However, Fenerbahçe has so many weapons that the last game seems theirs to lose. A motivated McBride, a healthy Meesseman, a steady Collier and a confident Anderson make for an unbeatable combination. But Smalls, Zellous and Salaün can pose quite a threat, and unlike Fenerbahçe, they have nothing to lose.
You can watch the championship game, as well as the 3rd-place match between ZVVZ USK Praha and Çukurova Basketbol Mersin, on the EuroLeagueWomen YouTube channel.
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