Friendly Rematch: VIMODROM Baskets Take on the BG74 Veilchen Ladies

On Sunday, September 6, 2026, we’ll play our next preseason exhibition game. At 4 p.m., we’ll face the BG74 Veilchen Ladies Göttingen on the road at the Felix-Klein-Gymnasium—the same venue where we played back in May. Back then, the playoff rematch was a battle for promotion: We were leading 43–42 at halftime, but in the end, after a real nail-biter, we had to admit defeat, losing 81–86. Now we’re facing each other again, this time with no pressure at all and with two rosters that are hardly comparable to the ones from last spring.

A lot has changed for us since last season, but the core of the team remains together. Seven players have stayed on: Annika Schwarz, Annika Heck, Laura Thiele, Alicia Rosanke, Jenna Rosanke, Stella Nwaobi, and Inga Ruppe. Building on this foundation, we want to integrate the new players—Jada Smith, Elza Bieriņa, and Hannah Biwersi—into the team and gradually get ourselves in shape for the start of the season. In addition, young player Lisa Hoppe from Chemnitz has recently joined us: She will train and play both in the Oberliga with our partner club Paradise City Jena and on our second-division roster.

There have also been changes at Göttingen. The new head coach is Francesca Dotto. She was an Italian national team player herself and won multiple Italian championships with Lucca and Schio. After her playing career, she transitioned into coaching; she works in Padua and serves as assistant coach of the Italian U20 national team.

In the Veilchen Ladies’ roster, too, some things have remained the same: Six players from last season are back, including captain Lena Wenke, Alice Bremer, and leading scorer Teresa Faustino. New additions include Sonia Sato, a forward who most recently played at Saint Francis University in the U.S., returning player Lea Nguyen, and 19-year-old Nastassia Selivon from Belarus, who, at 1.90 meters tall, brings a lot of presence under the basket.

For us, the game in Göttingen is a good opportunity to test where we stand against a team that’s also been rebuilt. We’re looking forward to the game and are eager to see where we stand after a week of training together.

If you can’t be there in person, you can watch the game via livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/4JDxXNsoDRc?si=muuI0ytTqVo45Lev