One of the top players in last season’s EuroLeague Women competition, forward Stephanie Mavunga, is expected to make her return for Polish club KGHM BC Polkowice in Week 5 of 2023-24 group play.
Mavunga, who was considered to be an MVP candidate before her season ended prematurely due to an arm injury, has been one of EuroLeague Women’s most productive players. Last season, she posted averages of 15.5 points and a competition-leading 12.5 rebounds per game to go along with 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocked shots, earning Player of the Month honors in December. Polkowice wasn’t the same after Mavunga got injured and narrowly missed the playoffs, losing a tiebreaker to French club Tango Bourges Basket that could have easily gone the other way had the star forward been healthy.
This is, obviously, a big deal for Polkowice, and while Mavunga shouldn’t be expected to return to her previous form right away, she and Brittney Sykes will form an explosive duo that will raise the club’s ceiling significantly. Sykes has played well since signing with Polkowice, averaging 14 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, but the club has been only mediocre offensively, scoring 70.5 points per game (seventh out of eight teams in Group B). Mavunga certainly will add a new dimension…
