It’s the final day of action in the group stages at Eurobasket Women. Who goes through, and who goes home. Here is the final day round up.
Group A (Vannes)
Montenegro 72-60 Ukraine
Montenegro are through to the next round after they defeated eliminated Ukraine 72-60.
Turnovers ended up hurting the Ukrainans again as they turned the ball over 20 times and with Jelena Dubljevic in fine form, hitting 29 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and adding 4 assists and 2 steals to her impressive statline, it was always going to be difficult.
Alina Iagupova scored 21 points for Ukraine as they leave France without a win.
Turkey 66-48 Slovak Republic
Turkey continued their fine form in the tournament by finishing Group A an impressive 3-0 as they brushed aside Slovak Republic 66-48. Both teams’ qualification to the next round though were already confirmed.
There were ten different scorers for the Turks as Slovakia struggled to cope with their opponents overall depth in numbers. A 20-8 second quarter was the key to what was an otherwise closely fought encounter.
Tugba Palazoglu led the victors with 12 points while Anna Jurcenkova responded with 10 for the Slovaks.
Turkey (3/0), Montenegro (2/1), Slovak Republic (1/2), Ukraine (0/3)
Group B (Vannes)
Russia 72-66 Italy
Despite clinching their first win of the tournament, a 72-66 success over Italy, champions Russia make a surprising first round exit of Eurobasket Women, which will not sit well with fans back home.
Marina Kuzina led the Russians with 15 points but it was not enough as because of Spain’s rout of Sweden, it meant that Russia finish bottom of Group B with Italy finishing third.
Giorgia Sottana led all scorers with 21 points for the Italians as they lost the battle but won the war with the mighty Russia who will now miss out on the 2014 world championships for women in Turkey.
Sweden 49-73 Spain
Despite an early fright, Spain eased past a brave Sweden outfit 73-49 to finish the group 3-0.
But even though they lost, the celebrations have already begun for the Swedes, as they finish as surprise runners-up in the group with a 1-2 record.
Sancho Lyttle proved her worth with 17 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocks for Spain as they fought back from an early deficit in the second quarter to regain the lead and keep it for good. Frida Eldebrink had 10 for Sweden.
Spain (3/0), Sweden (1/2), Italy (1/2), Russia (1/2)
Group C (Trelaze)
Serbia 62-56 Latvia
Serbia grabbed third place and the final spot into the next round through Group C with a 62-56 win over Latvia.
In what was a close game throughout, a five-point cushion was established thanks to a three-point play from Ivanka Matic and a transition bucket from Nevena Jovanovic, which gave the Serbs a 55-50 lead and left Latvia knocked out.
Jelena Milovanovic hit 15 points, 9 of which came from the foul line. Kristine Karklina led all scorers for Latvia with 17 points and 8 rebounds.
France 79-47 Great Britain
France eased past Great Britain 79-47 in the final game in Trelaze. Even before the game began though, both teams knew their fate and were already through.
However, it did not stop the French who managed to hold their three opponents thus far to below 50 points, en route to qualification. Great Britain can be proud that for periods of the game, they took the fight to the Eurobasket favourites and finished a deserved second in the group, higher than any GB squad in any tournament.
Isabelle Yacoubou and Valeriane Ayayi both led the hosts with 11 points with the former grabbing 9 rebounds as all 12 France players registered on the scoresheet. Jo Leedham led all scorers with 13 for the Brits.
France (3/0), Great Britain (2/1), Serbia (1/2), Latvia (0/3)
Group D (Trelaze)
Lithuania 72-67 Belarus
Lithuania signed off from this year’s Eurobasket with an encouraging 72-67 win over Group D winners Belarus.
A 21-12 final quarter swing propelled Lithuania to victory in this dead rubber contest. Gabriele Gutkauskaite led the victors with 15 points.
Aleksandra Tarasava led all scorers in vain for Belarus with 16 points.
Czech Republic 74-68 Croatia
The Czech Republic have finished second in Group D following a 74-68 win over Croatia who have finished third and still qualify despite the loss.
Katerina Hindrakova led the Czechs with 17 points. Ana Lelas and Iva Sliskovic each had 13 for Croatia.
Belarus (2/1), Czech Rep (2/1), Croatia (1/2), Lithuania (1/2)
