Preview: EuroCup Women Round of 8 play concludes this week with quarterfinals’ spots on the line

Last week, the first leg of EuroCup Women’s Round of 8 began. Today, the second leg starts! Here are the answers to your most burning questions about how the second leg works and what to expect next:

There are only two games in this round. What if the loser in Game 1 wins Game 2? Is there a third game?

No. The combined score of the two games determines the winner.

If there was a lopsided result in Game 1, does the winner from that game “take it easy” in Game 2?

If the result of Game 1 is particularly lopsided, this is possible, especially in the second half go Game 2. But basketball is a high-scoring game. The nature of basketball generally won’t allow a favorite to toil away for 40 minutes in Game 2 even if that team won in a blowout in Game 1.

Are there EuroLeague Women teams that know they are headed to the EuroCup Women’s quarterfinals?

Group play in EuroLeague Women concludes this week, but one team knows it will head to EuroCup Women regardless of the results. Spanish team Perfumerias Avenida is in fifth place in Group B of EuroLeague Women, with a 6-7 record. Turkish club Hatay (5-8) and French club Carolo Basket (4-9) are playing for the second spot.

In Group A, there is still one EuroLeague Women playoff spot up for grabs, with Polish club CCC Polkowice and Russian club Nadezhda fighting for it. Both teams have identical 7-6 records. Polkowice has the tiebreaker, however, because they defeated Nadezhda 70-36 on Dec. 12 and 59-55 on Feb. 13.

Which teams are playing?

Here are the pairings, game times, notable WNBA players or players with WNBA experience, as well as what to expect for each team:

(3) Spar Citylift Girona (Spain) vs. (6) KSC Szekszard (Hungary)

• When — Game 2: Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 2:15 p.m. ET.
• Game 1 Result — KSC Szekszard won 79-73 on Feb. 13.
• Notable WNBA players — For Girona, Keisha Hampton spent time with the Lynx and Sky. Shay Murphy last played for the then-San Antonio Stars. For KSC Szekszard, Abby Bishop last played for the Storm and Erica McCall (Fever) are their most notable WNBA players.
• Notes — Fever guard Erica McCall scored 19 points for the KSC Szekszard, who entered the fourth quarter with a one-point deficit. For Girona, Brazilian star Nadia Coldhado scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the defeat. Though Girona lost last week, this game was close throughout and things can truly go either way.

(1) BLMA (France) vs. (9) Galatasaray (Turkey)

• When — Thursday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m. ET.
• Game 1 Result — BLMA won 64-50 on Feb. 13.
• Notes — Seattle Storm guard Samantha Whitcomb scored 23 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in BLMA’s latest win where they never trailed. For Galatasaray, Aces guard Moriah Jefferson scored 14 points and played 38 minutes in the loss. Jefferson will need more help in this next game because Galatasaray will have to beat BLMA by at least 15 points to move to the quarterfinals.

(2) Cukurova Basketbol (Turkey) vs. (7) Wisla CANPACK Krakow (Poland)

• When — Thursday, Feb. 21, at 12:30 p.m. ET.
• Game 1 Result — Cukurova won 93-73 on Feb. 14.
• Notes — In their game last week, Cukurova outscored Wisla, 52-31, after trailing by one at halftime. For Wisla, Spanish star Leonor Rodriguez scored 21 points and had to play all 40 minutes in this game. In Game 2, she will need more help from her teammates, including Storm duo Jordin Canada and Mercedes Russell, to make things interesting against Cukurova. Ukrainian star Alina Iagupova scored 30 points last week for Cukurova, and Sparks guard Chelsea Gray added 16 points in the victory. Mystics free agent signee Kim Mestdagh added 11 more for the victors. Expect Cukurova to cruise into the quarterfinals here.

(4) Tarbes GB (France) vs. (12) Lyon ASVEL Feminin (France)

• When — Thursday, Feb. 21, at 2:30 p.m. ET.
• Game 1 Result — Lyon won, 95-68, on Feb. 13.
• Notable WNBA players — Tarbes has Alexis Prince and Devereaux Peters who played in the WNBA as recently as last season. Lyon has WNBA champion Alysha Clark (Storm), while Clarissa Dos Santos played two seasons for the Sky (2015, 2016).
• Notes — Lyon is the lowest-seeded team in EuroCup Women play, but sits in the driver’s seat to advance to the quarterfinals. Clarissa Dos Santos scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Game 1 while Storm guard Alysha Clark added 19 more points to lead all scorers. For Tarbes, Alexis Prince scored 14 points in the loss but even a big win may not be enough to move forward.