2012 EuroLeague Women Final 8, day one

Isabelle Yacoubou-Dehoui (in picture), playing for Ros Casares, came out on top against her international team-mate Sandrine Gruda and UMMC Ekaterinburg (62-49).

The only other French person to enter the court on day one was French referee Carole Delauné. She was one of the three officials in the match between Fenerbahçe SK and Beretta-Famila.

A common theme on day 1 was the lack of celebration by the winning teams. All the players and coaches were already thinking about their next games.

You can read our short analysis of the group by selecting the the links below.

You can also review a live chat blog from day one. The live chat is not a play-by-by commentary but more discussions with experts of the women's game and fans during the matches.

1. Group A: Fenerbahçe SK remain unbeaten while Rivas Ecópolis stun hosts

2. Group B: Sparta&K Moscow Region and Ros Casares on top

3. Day 1 - live chat

Day 1 picture gallery

Move your mouse on the small pictures to view

Fenerbahçe made it 15 wins from 15 matches in this season's EuroLeague Women with a victory against Beretta-Famila (74-58).

However their head coach George Dikeoulakos (in picture) went through a string of emotions on the side lines as his players - at times - made things more complicated then it shoud have been. They needed a 13-4 run in the final minutes to seal the victory.

All the same at the end of the game Dikeoulakos was satisfied with the performance and happy that his team only conceded 58 points.

Ivana Matovic was the key player for Fenerbahçe. She scored her team's first 6 points and finished with a game high 25 points while Penny Taylor added 24 points.

Fenerbahçe 74-58 Famila Schio

Fenerbahce: Ivana Matovic 25, Penny Taylor 24, Zane Tamane 9 (10 rebounds), Angel McCoughtry 9
Beretta-Famila Schio: Miaja Merkic 16, Cheryl Ford 14 (12 rebounds), Janal Mc Carville

George Dikeoulakos, Angel McCoughtry and Zane Tamane spoke with us after the game and you can listen to their comments here:

In the second game from the group, the hosts Galatasaray never really got going and paid the prize as Rivas Ecópolis walked away with the victory (75-68).

Spanish international Anna Cruz only scored 4 points but she was the driving force in her side's victory. She was everywhere and basically a pain in the backside for the hosts.

Essence Carson and Amaya Valdemoro spoke about the team chemistry and their jobs on the court and on the bench.

Miguel Martinez Mendez, the coach from Rivas used his bench cleverly for his key players to rest. He was rewarded with big shots from Carson and Elisa Aquilar during the last phase of the game that sealed the victory.

For the hosts Diana Taurasi and Tina Charles both scored 21 points but they needed help from other players.

Rivas Ecópolis 75-68 Galatasaray

Rivas Ecópolis: Jones 19 (13 rebounds), Aguilar 16, Carson 10, Laura Nicholls 9

Galatasaray: Taurasi 21, Charles 21 (10 rebounds), Prince 10

Sparta&K Moscow Region came up big when required

Wisla Can-Pack had the honour of snapping an almost five-year home winning streak in EuroLeague Women play against Sparta&K Moscoy. They also claimed the double this season by also beating them at home during the return game of the league phase.

In addition without Irina Osipova and Jelena Milovanovic, Sparta&K started as under-dogs.

Wisla led (16-2) after five minutes and gave the impression that they would run away with the game. However Sparta&K recovered slowly and by half time trailed by just 6 points (29-35).

Wisla never really got going in the second half and once it started to go in from beyond the arc for Sparta&K, the tied turned and it was game set and match for Sparta&K.

They went 9-of-12 from three-point play in the second half. Although the big four from Wisla all finished in double digits scores they were all absent at key moments.

For the first winners of a match in the EuroLeague Women Final 8, Becky Hammon (in picture) led the scoring with 19 points (4-of-5 from beyond the arc). But it was Evgenia Belyakova who provided the spark for the victory.

You can listen to comments from Becky Hammon and Pokey Chapman about the team's performance.

Wisla Can-Pack 70-77 Sparta&K
Wisla: Ewelina Kobryn 19, Anke De Mondt 14, Erin Phillips 13, Nicole Powell 12
Sparta&K: Becky Hammon 16, Candace Dupree 15, Simone Augustus 14, Sonja Petrovic 9, Evgenia Belyakova 9

Sue Bird's broken nose is the story of the match

A fracture to Sue Bird's nose just before the tip-off prevented her from playing and therefore swung the pendulum in favour of Ros Casaras before the match started.

Ros Casares led from start to finish and always appeared to be in control, only Sancho Lyttle clocked more than 27 minutes for the Spanish side.

Ann Wauters (right) received a nasty blow to the head the second quarter. She returned after the break and completed the game. We met up with Wauters to get information on the knock and the team's performance.

UMMC Ekaterinburg struggled from the start of the game and turned the ball over too many times. The contest was over by the end of the third quarter with Ros leading (51-31).

UMMC were able to bring some respectability to the final score-line by winning the final quarter.

Ros Casares 62-49 UMMC Ekaterinburg
Ros: Lauren Jackson 12, Ann Wauters 10, Sancho Lyttle 9, Maya Moore 9
UMMC Ekaterinburg: Candace Parker 17, Denna Nolan 14, Sandrine Gruda 12

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