Olympiacos Women Beat BAXI Ferrol 96-68 in EuroCup Opener

By Taki Panos

Premiere nights can be nervous affairs. Not this one. Olympiacos Women's Basketball opened their EuroCup Women campaign with an emphatic 96-68 win over Spanish side BAXI Ferrol at the Municipal Indoor Hall in Moschato on Wednesday evening, as in.gr reported. Captain Eleanna Christinaki poured in 26 points, including five made threes, and the red-and-whites never looked back after an early wobble. For a first group-stage night, the margin was the message as much as the result.

If you are catching up on Greek club basketball beyond the men's EuroLeague spotlight, this is the other half of the Piraeus story. Olympiacos SFP sit in the EuroCup Women group stage looking for a deeper European run, while their neighbors across town also started well: Panathinaikos women beat ALBA Berlin 81-73 the same night. For a fuller club backdrop, our facts about Olympiacos cover how the multi-sport giant got here, from football to basketball to the women's program that keeps filling Moschato.

Ferrol actually struck first. The visitors led 6-2 and 8-5 before Olympiacos found their rhythm. A three from Kollatou put the hosts ahead 15-12, Christinaki stretched it to 17-12, and by the end of the first quarter the score was 27-17. Fair math: once the ball movement clicked, Moschato felt like a different gym. The early deficit lasted maybe three minutes. The rest of the night belonged to the home side.

The second quarter was more of the same, only louder. Karlafti knocked down a three for a 37-23 lead, Christinaki kept heating up, and she closed the half with another triple for 45-28. She already had 14 points by then on 3-of-4 from deep. When your captain is that clean from outside, everyone else plays freer, and Ferrol's defense started chasing ghosts on the arc.

FIBA's opening-round roundup called it a blowaway behind Christinaki's long-range night, per the EuroCup Women site. The numbers back the eye test: Olympiacos finished 13-of-24 from three, a 54.2 percent clip that would make any men's side jealous on a good night. Ferrol simply could not buy enough stops on the perimeter, and every miss seemed to turn into another Olympiacos outlet the other way.

The third quarter turned the game into a statement. Christinaki hit again for 58-34, then 64-39, then 67-39. Egwuotu's free throws pushed the margin to 33 points at 72-39. The period closed 74-46. At that stage you are not managing a lead so much as confirming a mood: this group believes it belongs in long European nights, and Moschato believed it with them.

The fourth was cleanup. Karlafti drained another three for 91-61, and Pentante finished the scoring for a 96-68 final, as the in.gr box score laid out. Quarters ran 27-17, 45-28, 74-46, 96-68. Balanced scoring kept Ferrol from keying only on one player: Dulcy Fankam added 16, Karlafti and Pentante 12 each, Egwuotu 10, and Kyra Lambert 9 with the playmaking touch FIBA also flagged among the week's assist leaders. Depth like that travels.

Christinaki's line was the headline for a reason: 26 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, with 5-of-8 from three. She has worn that captain's weight for years in Greek basketball, and nights like this remind you why teammates still look for her when the gym gets loud. Coaching staff under Achmet Njogia will take the efficiency as much as the volume, because 26 points on that kind of shooting is the good kind of loud.

Spanish coverage felt the trip the other way. Diario de Ferrol framed the night as a hard landing in Greece after a heavy defeat, calling it a sinking into Greek hell. That is the away side of a 28-point loss: you can play with pride and still leave with a long flight home and a lot of film to watch. Olympiacos will take that reputation gladly.

Zoom out and Wednesday was a strong Greek stamp on EuroCup Women opening night. Olympiacos rolled in Moschato. Panathinaikos edged ALBA in Cholargos. Athinaikos had a tougher EuroLeague Women debut earlier in the week, so nobody should pretend every Greek women's night will look like 96-68. But two group-stage wins on the same card is the kind of start that gets people checking the standings again, and that is good for the sport here.

My take: European basketball coverage in Greece still defaults to the men's EuroLeague first, and that is fair when Olympiacos and Panathinaikos are living drama every week. Still, a 28-point EuroCup Women opener with a captain shooting lights-out is not a footnote. If this shooting holds, Olympiacos women will be a problem for a lot of group opponents who expected a softer Greek draw. Put it this way: 54 percent from three travels better than any press release.

Next up on the domestic side, Olympiacos return to the Allwyn GBL on Saturday, October 17, at 15:00 against Kronos Agios Dimitrios in Kamínia. European fixtures will keep coming fast after that. Keep an eye on our Greek Sports section for the next chapter. Opening night done the loud way.

Sources: in.gr, FIBA EuroCup Women, Diario de Ferrol.

Image: Olympiacos F.C. crest, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).