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France remain perfect at EuroBasket Women 2009France finish on top of EuroBasket Women Group D with a perfect record after beating Israel (73-70) in the final group game. France had problems containing Liron Cohen, who scored 30 points and was a perfect 6-from-6 from beyond the arc. Pierre Vincent decided to play his bench early in the game but then required the experience of Céline Dumerc and Emméline Ndongue to close out the game. France will meet Lithuania, Russia and Turkey in the next phase of EuroBasket Women 2009. France remain unbeaten after difficult match against Israel
France got off the mark quickly with Elodie Godin scoring a lay-up with less than 10 seconds played. Afterwards Emilie Gomis made it (4-0) for France with less than a minute after the tip-off. Laine Selwyn then opened the scoring for Israel with a three-pointer to start the second minutes of the game. She added 2 more points to her account on Israel's next attack. Liron Cohen completed Israel’s 7- 0 run as both sides settled into their rhythm (7-4). France stepped up the pace and regained the lead briefly (9-7). The two teams then went on a basket exchange with the advantage changing three times before Cohen (10th point of the period) from Israel broke the sequence with her second three-pointer of the match. Herewith Israel had opened up a small lead (17-13). Israel stayed ahead (19-17) at the end of the first period despite a late charge from France. Israel played with more purpose at the start of the second period but were rewarded with only 4 points. They extended their lead to (23-17). Nwal-Endéné Miyem injected some life into the French team by scoring 5 quick points. Emméline Ndongue then put France back in the lead with a couple of free-throws (24-23). France lost the lead a minute later as Shay Doron and Cohen worked together in scoring and dishing out assists to one another. Pierre Vincent made sure that Israel did not get another run going. With Gomis scoring back to back baskets the teams were level once again (30-30). France did a good job of keeping Israel out of the paint but left themselves wide open for shots from beyond the arc. Cohen (18 points) and Liad Suez Karni did not waste the opportunity and scored a 3-pointer each during the closing stages of the second period. This helped Israel to go into the interval leading (39-36). Doron did not waste much time in adding 2 more points to her account after the break as she caught France sleeping.
France had missed their first five attempts from behind the arc. So when Cathy Melain scored a three-pointer, the relief was felt on the bench. France were to score again from the land of many as Godin set up Gomis to level the score (46-46). The pace of the game picked up as both sides started to play more offensively as both sides went on a scoring exchange. Yet France once again left Cohen free outside. So she knocked down her fifth three-pointer of the game for Israel to go back in front. Pauline Krawczyk hit a period ending buzzer beater for the teams to finish level at the end of the third period (52-52). The final period resembled a game of table tennis in the way that the lead kept changing hands with every point. France thought that they had made the break when Emmanuelle Hermouet hit a trey. But the joy was short lived as Cohen buried her sixth trey of the match. The table tennis ended and the teams started to play cat a mouse. With just under five minutes left to play the teams were tied (62-62). Cohen and Droy continued to cause France problems. Yet France survived the bombardment and were kept in the game by Gruda as money-time approached (68-68). Ndongue and Céline Dumerc used their experience in drawing fouls and getting free trips to the free-throw line. They combined for 7-of-8 in this exercise as France held on to win (73-70). EuroBasket Women 2009 Box Scores. France need overtime to bear Belarus (63-61) Return from EuroBasket Women 2009 finals to "What's New" page Return to Senior International Basketball EuroBasket Women 2009 pictures credit : Castoria - FIBA Europe Date: 09 June 2009
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Gruda and Godin (right) responded with back to back scores as France switched tactics once again. However Selwyn was left wide open and had time to hit another three-pointer. Cohen continued her festival as Israel went 6 points clear (46-40).
