UMMC Ekaterinburg trailed early but hit back to beat Famila Schio of Italy and claim the opening win of the 2005-06 EuroLeague Women season.

The Russians, looking to take some of the attention away from Superleague rivals Volgaburmash of Samara, who are the reigning champions, won 60-51 in front of their own fans.

The hosts prevailed after dominating the boards, grabbing 44 rebounds - 12 of them on the offensive glass - to just 25 for Famila.

Ekaterina Sytnyak - with a name like that she should play for Ekaterinburg - led the winners in scoring with 18 points on seven of nine shooting, and also hauled down seven rebounds.

Suzie Batkovic, the winners' Australian international, had nine points and nine boards while Elena Karpova weighed in with 12 points and seven rebounds. Famila were able to cause some problems with their long-range shooting as they made seven of 12 from the arc, but Ekaterinburg's preference to feed the ball into the low post paid dividends with baskets,
or trips to the foul line where they sank 19 of 22 (86.3%) compared to just two of six (33.3%) for Famila.

The Italian team led 23-16 early in the second quarter after one of Emanuele Ramon's three three-pointers - she made all of her attempts in the contest - and also went ahead at 27-20 following a jump shot from Beathny Donaphin.

The home team scored the last six points of the first half to trail 27-26, but Famila held firm and led until 4:05 remained in the third quarter when Sytnyak made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 36-36.

On their next trip down the floor, Karpova buried a jump shot for a two-point lead.

Ekaterinburg, due largely to their hegemony on the boards, stretched their lead and stayed in front for the remainder of the contest.

Famila got a team-high 15 points from Raffaella Masciadri.