Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional
women's basketball
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
club based in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, Emilia-Romagna.
The club was founded in 2019, as the women's wing of
Virtus Bologna
Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna.
The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...
, one of the most important men's basketball team in Europe. Virtus is owned by the coffee entrepreneur
Massimo Zanetti
Massimo Zanetti (born 12 February 1948 in Treviso) is an Italian entrepreneur and former politician, owner of Segafredo, a global coffee company. Since 2016 Zanetti is also the owner of the Italian basketball team Virtus Bologna, one of the mo ...
.
History
2019–2021: Beginnings
In July 2019, the CEO of
Virtus Bologna
Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna.
The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...
, Luca Baraldi, announced the opening of a women's basketball wing, to participate in the
Serie A1 championship. In the same month, Alberto Piombo, a
tax advisor A tax advisor or tax consultant is a person with advanced training and knowledge of tax law. The services of a tax advisor are usually retained in order to minimize taxation while remaining compliant with the law in complicated financial situations. ...
, was appointed president of the women's wing. The 2019–20 season started with some troubles for Virtus, however, it was later cancelled due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
In the 2020–21, Virtus signed among others
Abby Bishop
Abby Bishop (born 29 November 1988) is an Australian professional basketball forward/center who plays for Southside Flyers of the Australian WNBL. She has played for the Australian Institute of Sport from 2005 to 2006, the Canberra Capitals fr ...
, Brooque Williams and Ana Marjia Begic, while it confirmed many players of the previous season, like the team captain, Elisabetta Tassinari. Moreover, the new head coach was Lorenzo Serventi. Virtus ended the regular season at the fourth place and was defeated in the national semi-finals by
Reyer Venezia
S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball in ...
.
2021–present: Zandalasini era
On 20 May 2021, the club signed the 25 years old
Cecilia Zandalasini
Cecilia Zandalasini (; born 16 March 1996) is an Italian basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian LBF and the Italian national team. She was the MVP of 2016 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women.
Early life
Zandalasini was bor ...
, widely considered among the best Italian players of all time and 2017
WNBA Champion with the
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Founded pr ...
. On the same day, president Zanetti announced Lino Lardo as the new head coach. Lardo, who already coached the Black V's men's wing during the early 2010s, is also the coach of
Italy's women's national team. The roster was completed within a few days: on 24 May, Virtus signed also
Sabrina Cinili, a point guard from
Famila Schio, on 27 May
Ivana Dojkić
Ivana Dojkić (born 24 December 1997 in Rijeka, Croatia) is a Croatian professional basketball player. She most recently played the Seattle Storm in the WNBA.
Professional career WNBA
Dojkić signed a rookie contract with the Seattle Storm ...
, a Croatian shooting guard from
UKS Praha on 29 May
Myisha Hines-Allen
Myisha Hines-Allen (born May 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In college she played for the University of Louisville.
Growing up in Montclair ...
, a small forward from
Lattes Montpellier who became WNBA Champion in 2019, and on 30 May
Brianna Turner
Brianna Turner (born July 5, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Virtus Bologna of the
EuroCup Women. She played college women's basketball f ...
, a power forward from
Adelaide Lightning
The Adelaide Lightning is an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League ( WNBL). The club is based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The club was formed in 1993 and they play i ...
.
Despite good premises, in November 2021 the team was eliminated in the group stage of the
EuroCup. On 19 April 2022, during the national semi-finals against Reyer Venezia, Lino Lardo was fired and his assistant Angela Gianolla became the new head coach. The team ousted Reyer Venezia by 2–1 in the national semi-finals, reaching the finals for the first time in its history and qualifying for the
EuroLeague Women. However, Virtus was defeated 3–1 by
Famila Schio.
Serie A1 femminile, il Famila Schio è Campione d'Italia: battuta la Virtus Bologna 69–84
''Bologna Today''
Season by season
Players
Current roster