Panathinaikos Women Beat ALBA Berlin 81-73 in EuroCup Opener

By Taki Panos

Opening nights in Europe can go either way: statement or stumble. Panathinaikos Women's Basketball chose the first one. The greens beat ALBA Berlin 81-73 on Wednesday at Cholargos Sports Hall in Athens to open their EuroCup Women 2026-27 Group C campaign, as FIBA's game page confirmed. Quarters ran 16-11, 36-36, 60-59, 81-73. It was never a blowout, but when the fourth quarter asked for composure, the home side had it.

If you are following Greek women's basketball beyond the domestic league, this was a good night for Athens. Across town the same evening, Olympiacos women also won their EuroCup opener, beating BAXI Ferrol 96-68 in Moschato. Two Greek club wins on opening night is the kind of card that makes people check the standings again. Coach Selen Erdem's side got the home win they wanted, with pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness month on the night.

The hosts opened with energy. Panathinaikos led 10-4 early behind Sara Bejedi, then held ALBA at arm's length for a 16-11 first quarter, per the club report on pao1908.com. ALBA cut it close more than once, but the greens kept finding the next basket. Cholargos was not packed like a derby, yet the crowd of about 250 to 300 (the club said 250 fans; FIBA listed 300) made enough noise for an opener.

The second quarter was a scrap. ALBA, coached by Cristo Cabrera, punched back. Greek-German guard Aikaterini Marini hit two first-half threes and briefly made it a one-point game, as ALBA Berlin's match report noted. Lena Gohlisch even put the visitors ahead for a moment. Ioanna Chatzileonti answered, and the half closed tied at 36-36. Fair math: neither side had cracked the other's nerve yet.

After the break Panathinaikos stretched out. Anna Stamolamprou's three made it 50-41 in the third, a nine-point cushion that looked like control. ALBA refused to fold. Gohlisch and Deeshyra Thomas dragged the deficit back to a single point, and the period ended 60-59, as Gazzetta's box score shows. That is the hard part of European openers: you build a lead, then spend the next five minutes defending it with your fingernails.

The fourth decided it. Ioanna Krimili scored early to make it 64-59. ALBA tied again, then the greens answered with a run to 73-64, tightening the defense when it mattered. Krimili's three for 79-69 with about two minutes left essentially closed the night, per the club timeline. Final: 81-73. Note: some headlines floated 81-71, but the official score is 81-73.

The scorers told the story. Bejedi led with 20 points and four made threes. Krimili added 18 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals for an efficiency rating of 24 on FIBA's sheet. Khadijiah Cave posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Chatzileonti had 11. For ALBA, Gohlisch scored 13, Thomas 12, Fanta Gassama 10 with eight rebounds, and Alina Hartmann 10. Marini finished with six, including those two first-half threes that kept Berlin in the fight.

After the final horn, Krimili spoke to the club site with the kind of honesty coaches love. "The win is very important. Despite that, we made some mistakes that will cost us in other games. The margin in every game matters a lot, so we have to become better, to improve. All the mistakes cost. We need to work even more," she said (translated from Greek), as pao1908.com published. That is a winner's quote: celebrate the W, then go straight to the film.

ALBA left Athens with their heads up. Their report called it a tense European start and noted they stayed with an underdog tag for long stretches before the hosts pulled away in the fourth. Gassama's board work and Thomas's scoring kept them alive. Next for Berlin is domestic action, then their own EuroCup home opener. For Panathinaikos, the message was simpler: first European night done, one win banked, plenty still to fix.

Zoom out and Wednesday was a solid Greek stamp on EuroCup Women opening night. Panathinaikos edged ALBA in Cholargos. Olympiacos rolled Ferrol in Moschato. Not every Greek women's night will look this clean, but two openers won on the same card is a start worth noticing. The pink ribbons were a quiet reminder that the night was about more than the scoreboard, too.

My take: Group C will not hand anyone free wins, and an 8-point home opener is not a coronation. Still, Bejedi's shooting, Krimili's all-around line, and Cave's double-double are the kind of balance that travels. Erdem's side showed they can absorb a tied half and a one-point third quarter without panicking. That matters more than the final margin. Put it this way: surviving the messy middle of a European game is how you grow into the competition.

Next up, Panathinaikos travel to Italy on Wednesday, October 21, tip-off 20:30 local, against Geas Basket. Keep an eye on our Greek Sports section for the next chapter. Opening night, job done.

Sources: FIBA, pao1908.com, Gazzetta, ALBA Berlin.

Image: Panathinaikos BC crest, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).