Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna,Segafredo Virtus Bologna, Eurosport was an Italian professional women's basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna.
The club was founded in 2019, as the women's wing of Virtus Bologna, one of the most important men's basketball team in Europe. Virtus is owned by the coffee entrepreneur Massimo Zanetti.Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna – Proprietà, www.virtus.it
History 2019–2021: Beginnings In July 2019, the CEO of Virtus Bologna, Luca Baraldi, announced the opening of a women's basketball wing, to participate in the Serie A1 championship.Bologna ora ha anche le donne in A-1: obiettivo salvezza, poi le ambizioni In the same month, Alberto Piombo, a tax advisor, was appointed president of the women's wing.Alberto Piombo, Virtuspedia The 2019–20 season started with some troubles for Virtus, however, it was later cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
In the 2020–21, Virtus signed among others Abby Bishop, Brooque Williams and Ana Marjia Begic, while it confirmed many players of the previous season, like the team captain, Elisabetta Tassinari.Femminile, Virtuspedia 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.A1 Femminile – Reyer Venezia, sarà finale: battuta la Virtus Bologna, Pianeta Basket
2021–2024: Zandalasini era On 20 May 2021, the club signed the 25 years old Cecilia Zandalasini, widely considered among the best Italian players of all time and 2017 WNBA Champion with the Minnesota Lynx.La Virtus Bologna ufficializza Cecilia Zandalasini: Felice di tornare e vestire questa maglia, Sportando 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.Segafredo Virtus Bologna, l’allenatore della squadra femminile è Lino Lardo, Sportando The roster was completed within a few days: on 24 May, Virtus signed also Sabrina Cinili, a point guard from Famila Schio,Sabrina Cinili nuovo acquisto di Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna on 27 May Ivana Dojkić, a Croatian shooting guard from UKS PrahaIvana Dojkić nuovo acquisto di Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Basket Inside on 29 May Myisha Hines-Allen, a small forward from Lattes Montpellier who became WNBA Champion in 2019,La Virtus Bologna batte un altro colpo: Myisha Hines-Allen è bianconera, Basket Inside and on 30 May Brianna Turner, a power forward from Adelaide Lightning.Brianna Turner nuovo acquisto di Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna
Despite good premises, in November 2021 the team was eliminated in the group stage of the EuroCup.EuroCup Women – Carolo sbanca Bologna, Virtus eliminata, Basket Inside 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.Virtus Bologna femminile, decisione a sopresa: Lino Lardo non è più il capo allenatore, BolognaToday 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
In the following season, Giampiero Ticchi became the new head coach and the club signed important international players like Iliana Rupert, Cheyenne Parker and Kitija Laksa. In 2022–23, Virtus played for the first time in the EuroLeague Women, but it was ousted in the regular season with a winning record of 5–9.EuroLeague Women, il percorso della Virtus Bologna si chiude con l'USK Praga. BolognaToday The club ended the Italian championship's season at the first place but, once again, it lost the national finals against Famila Schio by 2–0.Basket femminile, Virtus battuta, Schio è campione d'Italia. la Repubblica During the first game of the series in PalaDozza, Virtus set a new all-time record for LBF with 5,337 attendances.Virtus Bologna-Famila Schio, record di presenza di tutti i tempi per il basket femminile. Corriere della Sera At the beginning of the following season, Virtus won its first ever title, the Italian Basketball Supercup.
On 20 June 2024, Baraldi announced that Virtus would not register for the following season and that the resources thus freed up would be diverted towards the youth sector, both men's and women's.Terremoto nel basket femminile: la Virtus Bologna non si iscrive al campionato. Sportando
Season by season Season Tier League Italian CupOther competitionsEuropean competitions2019–201 LBF13th 2020–211 LBF4th Semi-finalist 2021–221 LBF 2nd Runners-up 2 EuroCup 2022–231 LBF 2nd Semi-finalist 1 EuroLeague 2023–241 LBF 5th Quarterfinalist Supercup C 1 EuroLeague
Players Current roster
References
External links Official website