Schio Edge Defending Champions

Beretta Famila Schio had to hold on for dear life but edged defending champions Perfumerias Avenida on Thursday night in the EuroLeague Women.

Laura Macchi scored 19 points and Janel McCarville had 15 rebounds to go with 13 points as the Italians won, 67-64.

After leading by as many as 15 points in the second quarter, Schio only took a 30-27 lead to the break.

Isa Sanchez led the Avenida fightback with eight points in the last 4:53 of the second quarter.

Macchi had 10 points at half-time.

Baskets by Marta Xargay and Erika De Souza at the beginning of the third quarter put Perfumerias in front, 31-30, but they weren't able to put any meaningful distance between themselves and the hosts.

Instead, Schio went back in front by six before Dewanna Bonner split a pair of free-throws to leave the hosts on top 53-48 heading to the last frame.

Chiara Consolini's drive pushed the advantage to seven at the start of the fourth quarter, and Raffaella Masciadri was fouled behind the arc in the act of shooting and made three free-throws to stretch the lead to 60-52.

Perfumerias weren't done, though.

They went on a late 7-0 run, capped by a Bonner three-pointer, to trim the Schio advantage to 65-64 with 1:24 remaining.

McCarville buried a jumper for the hosts and Bonner was off target with a shot from long range on Avenida's next possession.

Though Sanchez came up with a late steal, she missed a lay-up and Macchi rebounded to seal the win.

The winners improved to 4-4 in Group B while Avenida, who won the first meeting by 20 points in Spain on October 19, suffered a third straight loss in falling to 5-3.

Bonner had 19 points and 12 boards in defeat.

Quotes Beretta-Famila vs. Perfumerias Avenida

Maurizio Lasi, Beretta-Famila Schio coach:
"[It was a] great victory against the European champions. We played well n the first quarter and then we kept playing hard when Salamanca tried to come back. Now we need to work harder for the next match against Fenerbahce."

Laura Macchi, Beretta-Famila Schio:
"We're so happy tonight; winning in our house, in front of our fans against the European champions is great. We're growing match after match and we hope to close this year in style."

Lucas Mondelo, Perfumerias Avenida coach:
"In the first half we did not defend well against a team that played really hard. We tried to come back and we did it but in the end Schio were better. Now we will have a tough match in [the Spanish] Liga and then [we face] Sopron."

Erika De Souza, Perfumerias Avenida:
"It was a fight but we expected that. [In the] first quarter we played not they way we know and should and then we played catch-up for the rest of the game."