EuroBasket Day One Standouts

Seven players who played big in Group A and B

The FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 tournament officially tipped off to determine who will be the champion of European basketball on the national level. There are rising stars, established vets, and players whom we will learn more about throughout the tournament. Let’s take a look at some of the players who caught my attention on the opening day.

Teaira McCowan, Turkiye

The opening game of the day didn’t disappoint. The Dallas Wings center, Teaira McCowan, started the game strong with 7 points in the first quarter, ultimately finishing with 20 points, 15 rebounds while shooting 6/8 from the free throw line. Although Turkiye fell in the fourth quarter due to missed free throws and turnovers to EuroBasket favorites France, McCowan displayed her dominance and looks to be a force during the group stage play.

Olcay Cakir, Turkiye

While I was watching Turkiye vs. France, a player whom I didn’t know caught my attention. Olcay Cakir was a magician with the rock. Cakir’s ability to score, penetrate, and kick to open shooters was great. The 31-year-old Cakir finished with 18 points, 5 assists, shooting 7/10 from the stripe. As mentioned above, Turkiye ultimately fell short late in the fourth quarter as the rest of the team outside of McCowan and Cakir shot just 6/15 from the free-throw line. Turkiye, with Cakir, McCowan, and Sevgi Uzun, should bounce back tomorrow and take care of business against Switzerland.

Valeriane Ayayi, France

A big part of France's win, in a thriller of an opening game against Turkey, was the shot-making ability of the 31-year-old Valeriane Ayayi. Ayayi finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds, scoring six of her 14 points in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. Ayayi, who took a backseat 10 months ago at the Paris Olympics, alongside Gabby Williams and Marine Johannes, is showing she can still be a focal piece for the French National team as they look to take home the Eurobasket title.

Jessica Shepard, Slovenia

Slovenia started group play with a slow start in the first quarter, allowing Lithuania to score 27 points in the opening period. Following the first quarter barrage, Slovenia settled into the game, but it wasn’t enough to get past Lithuania, who went on to win their first game in 10 years. On the bright side for Slovenia was the play of Jessica Shepard. Shepard led all scorers with 25 points and 18 rebounds. Shepard scored from all three levels efficiently, going 9/14 from two, 1/1 from three, and 50% from the stripe. For Slovenia to make it out of group play, they will need Teja Oblak to stay out of foul trouble and help with the scoring load.

Juste Jocyte, Lithuania

Juste Jocyte looked poised and showed fans why she was taken 5th overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft in April. The 19-year-old Jocyte looked like a veteran on the floor against Slovenia, controlling the pace of play, finishing with 17 points and 6 assists in the 77-71 win. Jocyte scored 7 of the first 9 points for Lithuania and followed it up by getting to the midrange and penetrating to get inside, including a tough and-one finish to seal the win for Lithuania. If Lithuania wants to continue to make history in Eurobasket and advance out of group play, Jocyte’s poise, ability to score, and facilitate will be huge. Lithuania will go as far as Jocyte can take them.

Mariella Fasoula, Greece

The former Division-1 standout Mariella Fasoula looked dominant in the 22-point win over Switzerland. Fasoula established deep positioning on the block, finishing easily around the basket, and displayed her ability to pass with four assists, a couple being no-look passes. Fasoula finished with 21 points and 6 rebounds to go with the four assists on the day. The duo of Fasoula and Artemis Spanou appears to be a significant part of Greece's success, with both able to establish positioning in the paint and facilitate as bigs. Keep in mind that this was against a Switzerland team that is not expected to advance out of group play. From here, it will get a little tougher for Greece as they take on France and Turkiye in their next two games in group play.

Cecillia Zandalasini, Italy

Cecillia Zandalasini, quite frankly, put Italy on her back against Serbia. Zabdalasini led all scorers with 20 points, adding 11 rebounds and 5 assists, leading Italy in all three statistical categories. 12 of her 20 points came from beyond the arc, knocking down 4 three pointers, including a clutch three with just under one minute on the game clock and the shot clock about to sound. Her ability to score from all three levels was big for Italy to start group play with a win. Italy will match up against Slovenia and Lithuania to wrap up group play and hope to advance to the knockout stage in the coming days.

Who stood out to you on day one? Who are you most excited to see on day two of action?