1996–97 EuroLeague Women

(Redirected from 1997 EuroLeague Women)

The 1997 Euroleague Women was the inaugural edition of the competition, a refoundation of the FIBA Women's European Champions Cup, FIBA Europe's premier competition for women's basketball clubs. Running from 2 October 1996 to 10 April 1997, the competition was turned from a European Cup for all national champion clubs to a 16-team semi-closed championship, with champions from lower-seeded national leagues playing instead the second tier Ronchetti Cup; in addition to thirteen national champions the French, German and Italian runners-up were also granted a spot. Other than suppressing the two qualifying rounds, the competition system was the same as that of the 1996 European Cup.

Bourges Basket defeated defending champion BTV Wuppertal to become the first French team to win the competition since the European Cup's foundation in 1959.[1] The Final Four, which took place in Larissa, was contested by the same four teams as the previous edition's, with Ružomberok beating Pool Comense for the bronze.[2]

Preliminary round

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Group A

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# Team Pld W L PF PA
1   Pool Getafe 14 13 1 1183 952
2   Valenciennes Olympic 14 11 3 1108 992
3   Ružomberok 14 11 3 1093 955
4   Galatasaray 14 7 7 945 963
5   Pécs 14 5 9 976 1076
6   Wildcats Aschaffenburg 14 4 10 979 1017
7   Ahena 14 3 11 885 1063
8   Croatia Zagreb 14 2 12 939 1090

Group B

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# Team Pld W L PF PA
1   Bourges 14 11 3 1035 855
2   Brno 14 10 4 1155 1119
3   Pool Comense 14 10 4 1161 1069
4   Wuppertal 14 9 5 1053 957
5   Sporting Athens 14 7 7 1059 1010
6   Ježica 14 3 11 919 1052
7   Elitzur Ramla 14 3 11 963 1062
8   Dynamo Kyiv 14 3 11 868 1059

Quarter-finals

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Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st 2nd 3rd
Pool Getafe   0–2   Wuppertal 78–89 66–89
Valencienns Olympic   1–2   Pool Comense 82–74 55–108 68–81
Bourges   2–0   Galatasaray 83–33 72–68
Brno   0–2   Ružomberok 59–87 57–63

Final four

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
8 April
 
 
  Wuppertal87
 
10 April
 
  Ružomberok66
 
  Wuppertal 52
 
8 April
 
  Bourges 71
 
  Comense58
 
 
  Bourges68
 
Third place
 
 
10 April
 
 
  Ružomberok75
 
 
  Comense58

References

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  1. ^ List of finals, 1959-91 in FIBA Europe's website
  2. ^ Results in FIBA Europe's website