Galatasaray Late Surge Topples Schio

Galatasaray held Beretta-Familia Schio scoreless for the final four minutes to capture a 63-55 victory in their home leg of the EuroCup Women semi-final showdown.

Galatasaray out-scored the Italian guests 9-0 to close the game as Vickie Johnson led the way with 19 points, five rebounds and four assists while Petra Ujhelyi added 15 points and Sofia Young tallied 11 points.

Leading 55-54, Beretta-Familia failed to convert on their final six possessions, including four turnovers, as they will host the return leg on 12 March.

Deanne Butler paced Beretta-Familia with 14 points while Raffaella Masciadri added 10 points in a losing effort. But Sandro Orlando's team committed 21 turnovers and forced just nine against Galatasaray.

Schio grabbed the early 5-2 lead with a three-ball by Elisabetta Moro. Back-to-back baskets by Ujhelyi gave Galatasaray their first lead of the game at 9-5. The game went back and forth and Esra Sencebe's long ball helped the Turks to a 18-16 advantage after one period.

Johnson scored eight straight points as Galatasaray started the second quarter on an 8-2 run for a 26-20 lead. But Masciadri and Moro knocked down triples as the Italians went into the break ahead 34-31.

Johnson and Young combined for 10 points as the hosts opened the second half with a 15-0 surge to open a 44-34 gap. Mudju Ngoyisa finally stopped the bleeding for the guests and Beretta-Familia did not allow a Galatasaray basket over the final four minutes in pulling to within 50-42 after three periods.

Johnson's next basket opened the fourth for a 10-point lead again. But Butler and Katrin Ress scored all 10 points in a 10-0 run to even the game at 52-52 halfway through the fourth. Sencebe jumper gave Galatasaray the lead back only to see Federica Ciampoli drained a long ball for the lead for the Italians. But Ujhelyi answered with a lay-up to spark a 9-0 run to close the game.