Eurobasket Women - Greece qualify for the quarter-final
There was plenty of drama in the final day of EuroBasket Women Group E play.
Greece held off the Slovak Republic in a dramatic finish to win (59-57).
As a result of Poland losing to the Czech Republic (68-82), Greece have qualified for the quarter-final.
Anna Montañana scored 25 points as Spain powered past Latvia in the final period to win (67-60).
Spain are the winners of Group E, while the Slovak Republic finished second. Latvia and Greece are third and fourth respectively.
The Czech Republic and Poland finished in fifth and sixth place.
Pelagia Papamichail from Greece and Lucia Lásková from the Slovak Republic speak in English about the EuroBasket Women matches played so far in the audio after match comment section in the game highlight section.
You can read more about the games of interest by clicking on the following links or scrolling down the page:
EuroBasket Women 2009 audio after match comments Pelagia Papamichail was pleased with the victory for Greece despite the low score.
She explained it was a tight game and that they played tough and once they had the lead at the end she knew they could win.
They had to defend well, which was what they did and they demonstrated they were a good team.
She finished the interview on discussing the losses in the first round of EuroBasket Women, with the qualification for the quarter-final depending then on other results.
Lucia Lásková, who played last season in France with Roche Vendée, is happy to be at Eurobasket Women despite the defeat in this match.
She went on to explain that things happened when they did not follow the coaches rules, however she hopes for the next match and that they do not make the same mistake and win.
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EuroBasket Women 2009 audio after match comments Cindy Lima explained that the team fought hard until the end and that the team were mentally strong which helped them in difficult situations.
She was impressed by the support the Latvian team received by the home support but she hopes that they remain focused for the EuroBasket Women quarter-final game which is an important game.
Aija Brumermanea, who has been injured since the start of EuroBasket Women, is happy to be back on court after sitting on the bench.
She explained that while injured she was still part of the team, which has made it easier to return.
She concluded that playing at home in front of the home fans was really great.
Gunta Basko really believed that Latvia would win and was disappointed with the ways things went in the final quarter.
She is not sure of the opponents for the quarter-final but believes that as long as they keep their heads up and remain positive that they will win.
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The Slovak Republic changed their approach afterwards with Martina Gyurcsi (left) setting up for a trey.
However Greece replied immediately with a trey by Dimitra Kalentzou.
The two teams then exchanged baskets for the rest of the quarter with the lead changing every time somebody scored with Greece edging the contest (17-16).
The Slovak Republic were doing a good job on keeping Evanthia Maltsi from behind the arc.
But they had trouble stopping Kalentzou and Zoi Dimitrakou from scoring from the land of many.
However a trey from Zuzana Zirková and then back to back baskets from Lucia Lásková allowed them to regain the lead.
The game became more lively with a quick exchange of baskets including a second trey by Zirková for the Slovak Republic to lead (30-27) with five minutes played in the second period.
Defense became the order of the day for the rest of the quarter as scoring became more difficult. The Slovak Republic went into the interval in front (36-33).
The first three minutes of the third period were difficult for both teams offensively as the ball just refused to drop in the basket.
With almost three minutes played Katarina Hrickova managed to score a basket for the Slovak Republic.
Maltsi replied immediately for Greece with a lay-up.
She then popped up 90 seconds later for her first three-pointer of the game to level the score (38-38) with almost five minutes played in the third quarter.
Maltsi was to put Greece back in front with another shot from the land of many (41-40).
This set-up put a frantic end to the third quarter in which Greece managed to hold on to the advantage (46-43).
Lásková brought the teams level for the fifth time with a trey from the top of the arc with a minute played in the final period. A minute later Greece were back in front as Maltsi fired in her third trey of the game.
Maltsi was then on fire and scored another three-pointer from NBA distance. This inspired her team-mates as they started to play better defensively. Afterwards Pelagia Papamichail getting the ball away from Gyurcsi to score (54-48).
Pokey Chatman immediately called for a time-out and reorganised her players.
The game became more intense as both sides pushed themselves to their physical limit.
With two minutes remaining Greece led by a single point (58-57).
The game went down to the very last second as Greece used up their last 24 seconds before finding Kaltsidou who took the shot that bounced off the ring.
Luckily Papamichail picked up the rebound and was fouled.
There were still 3.1 seconds to play and the Greece coach called for a time-out.
Greece used up some more time before Kalentzou was fouled.
She hit the first free-throw but missed the second one. Kupcikova picked up the defensive rebound and then threw the ball from one end of the court to the other and just missed the target.
Greece survived (59-57).
Maltsi was once again top scorer with 22 points for Greece.
Pelagia Papamichail was pleased with the victory for Greece despite the low score.
She explained it was a tight game and that they played tough and once they had the lead at the end she knew they could win.
They had to defend well, which was what they did and they demonstrated they were a good team.
She finished the interview on discussing the losses in the first round of EuroBasket Women, with the qualification for the quarter-final depending then on other results.
The Czech Republic were able to take control of the game while keeping Agnieszka Bibrzycka scoreless as they went into the interval leading (43-27).
Spain thought they had gained the upper hand through Laura Nicholls.
But Zana Tamane (no. 7 in picture) had the last say from Latvia with the last points of the first half of the match (32-31).
The first points from the third period came from the three-point line: Aguilar scored first for Spain.
Then Liene Jansone fired in back to back shots from beyond the arc.
The two teams continued their offensive assault in a fast, furious and physical encounter and were tied once again (45-45) with just under three minutes to play in the third period.
Spain had problems from the free-throw line and went 2-for-6 at a crucial time which allowed Latvia to lead going into the final period (49-47).
Montañana put Spain back in the lead with a trey at the start of the final quarter.
For Latvia it went from bad to worse as Aguilar was allowed to hit a rainbow trey from downtown. This was quickly followed by an easy 2 points by Montañana to put Spain back in the lead (55-49).
With eight minutes left to play the Latvian coach decided that a time-out was required.
Spain continued with the pressure on defense and added 2 more points to their lead (57-49) from Torrens who went coast to coast.
She then rushed back immediately to defend and blocked Gunta Basko in one of the best actions of the match.
Spain's 12-0 run was ended by Jekabsone-Zogota. Although Valdemoro scored for Spain the loudest cheer of the night came when Aija Brumermane scored for Latvia seconds later.
Montañana was at her offensive best in the paint as she continued to score for Spain. On the other hand Jekabsone-Zogota was firing in from the land of many.
Spain fought tooth and nail for everything in their own paint. Palau was rewarded for her chasing lost causes when the ball got back to Valdemoro who hit a three (66-58) with three minutes left to play.
Basko scored with 75 seconds remaining to give Latvia hope once more. But their chance was gone and Spain won (67-60).
Cindy Lima explained that the team fought hard until the end and that the team were mentally strong which helped them in difficult situations.
She was impressed by the support the Latvian team received by the home support but she hopes that they remain focused for the EuroBasket Women quarter-final game which is an important game.
