The first official game of the 2026/27 Russian Premier League season took place today. In the “City of Brides,” UMMC faced the local team Energia. The league leaders had no serious trouble securing their first win of the season, taking the game 83–71.

Quarter scores: 16–27, 16–21, 22–20, 17–15

Captain Shilova opened the scoring with a three-pointer early in the first quarter. Together with Klyundikova, she led the way for UMMC for much of the first half, while the home team kept pace early on before gradually falling behind. Former UMMC-Junior player Svetlana Samusheva made her Premier League debut for Energia. Megan Walker’s three-pointer in the final minute gave UMMC their first double-digit advantage of the game, making it 27–16 at the end of the quarter.

The Tigresses went on a run in the second quarter to cut the deficit to six points, forcing Dmitrii Donskov to call a timeout. A couple of minutes later, the Foxes responded with disciplined defense without committing fouls and efficient offense, restoring their cushion. UMMC headed into halftime with a comfortable 48–32 lead.

After the break, Dmitry Shumikhin’s team made another push to get back into the game, closing the gap to six points. A timeout from the Foxes’ head coach proved effective, and the visitors gradually rebuilt their 16-point lead by the end of the quarter, taking a 68–54 advantage into the final 10 minutes.

At that point, the home team began to run out of steam. Five minutes into the final quarter, the Foxes were up by 20 points. The Ivanovo team, however, had no intention of giving up. In the closing minutes, the visitors’ experience and quality made the difference, as UMMC cruised to a convincing 83–71 victory in their opening game of the season.

The Foxes’ next game will be at home. On October 5, they will take on Premier League newcomers Vladimirskie Lvitsy at DIVS Arena. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available at the link.

Energia: Goncharova (21 points), Kostyukovets (16 points, 8 rebounds).  

UMMC: Klyundikova (17 points, 9 rebounds), Walker (16), Maiga and Levchenko (10 points each).