Kitija Laksa scores 18 as Famila Schio win in Istanbul

Italian club Famila Schio won 84-66 away at Istanbul's Galatasaray on Thursday, 15 October, in the EuroLeague Women, Europe's top women's club basketball competition. Latvian player Kitija Laksa contributed 18 points and was one of the team's standout performers.

The Italian champions travelled to Turkey with almost their strongest squad. The team, coached by Jorge Dikeulakos, played without Cecilia Zandalasini, who is currently preparing for the WNBA finals with the Golden State Valkyries. The WNBA is the North American professional women's league.

The Turkish side was missing even more players. Galatasaray were without Dorka Juhász, Natasha Howard, Janelle Salaün, Marina Fatou and Sydney Taylor.

Laksa's performance

Laksa spent 16 minutes and 25 seconds on court. In that time she scored 18 points, hitting 3 of 4 two-point attempts and 2 of 4 from three-point range, and converting all 6 free throws. She also recorded three rebounds, a plus/minus of 14 and an efficiency rating of 18.

Her most productive spell came at the end of the third quarter. In under three minutes she scored nine points, and Famila Schio's lead grew from 53-50 to 62-53.

The game was played at the Sinan Erdem Dome, which is also home to the Galatasaray men's team and Anadolu Efes.