Slovenia overcame 2017 silver medalists France in a 68-62 home victory to make it three wins from three in the first leg of the February EuroBasket Women 2019 qualifiers that saw 12 away wins in the 16 games played.
Teja Oblak led the way with 18 points and 10 assists in the Group E win with Shante Evans also adding a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards.
“I am very happy,” declared Oblak.
“Many people probably did not believe in us that we could win such a game. We really showed a lot of heart and character.
“I hope to repeat such a game on Wednesday against Romania.”
Romania will head into the contest off the back of their first win as they defeated Finland 80-59 on the road to open the second window.
Meanwhile, Spain and the Czech Republic came through major tests to their perfect records.
Alba Torrens contributed 18 points, five assists and five steals to a 72-68 Group F road win against Ukraine for the defending champions, while Alena Hanusova scored 16 points to help Czech Republic edge past Belgium, 53-48 in Group G.
Over in Group D, Great Britain came from behind to record a determined 64-56 win away to Portugal.
Trailing in the final six minutes, GB held the hosts scoreless in the final 5:52, going on a 15-0 run to improve to 2-1 in the group.
Chantelle Handy led GB with 21 points with Temi Fagbenle adding 15 points and ten rebounds.
“Every win is definitely important for us as GB,” said Fagbenle. “We go into each game thinking we can win because we can. We’re a strong team. We believe in each other and it showed today.
“We stuck to the end. We pulled through. We were down by 12 at one point but it’s a 40-minute game. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We stuck together and we came out victorious.”
Alysha Clark finished with an impressive 27 points, 16 rebounds and 5 assists in Israel’s 65-63 triumph over Greece with the visitors suffering their first loss.
It was Dannielle Diamant who sealed the win after coming up with huge plays at both ends late on for Israel as Group D sees three teams on 2-1 records, with Portugal struggling at 0-3.
Other Results:
Group A: Montenegro 72-73 Slovak Republic; Bosnia & Herzegovina 97-67 Iceland.
Group B: Estonia 68-87 Poland; Belarus 54-64 Turkey
Group C: Hungary 64-71 Russia; Albania 61-119 Lithuania
Group D: Israel 65-63 Greece; Portugal 56-64 Great Britain
Group E: Slovenia 68-62 France; Finland 59-80 Romania
Group F: Ukraine 68-72 Spain; Bulgaria 78-83 Netherlands
Group G: Switzerland 54-56 Germany; Czech Republic 53-48 Belgium
Group H: Sweden 47-69 Italy; FYR of Macedonia 47-108 Croatia
