|
Global Vision FIBA Europe U18
|
Russia are the first team to wave good bye to the FIBA Europe U18 Championship for Women Division A title after falling to Turkey (51-56) on the second day of action in Oradea.
Turkey beating Russia for this generation of players does not really come as a shock. This Turkish group of players qualified for the U17 World Championship in 2010 after finishing fifth during the 2009 U16 European Championship for Women Division A.
Turkey had been eliminated by France after quadruple overtime (96-93) from the title race during the quarter-final but recovered to snatch fifth place.
Olcay Cak who led the Turkish attack with 12 points and match winner Özge Kavurmacioglu are no strangers to the Russians. Kavurmacioglu went 4-from-5 from the free-throw line in the last 10 seconds to deny Russia from coming back into the game.
Russia have lost two close games and find themselves bottom of Group A and are eliminated.
Romania were brought back down to earth by Sweden in the last game of the day (41-79).
Amanda Zahui (right) led the Swedish team with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Nathalie Fontaine, Alice Nystrom and Abigail Asoro scored 15, 12 and 10 points each. All the same Romania join Sweden and Turkey in the next round.
France stepped up just in time to beat the Czech Republic
It does not matter how good individual players are at youth level. When you put them together in youth teams they tend to come up with the unpredictable.
The Czech Republic dominated France for the first 20 minutes, doing the simple things well.
They had no joy from beyond the arc going 0-from-9, so their coach Romana Ptackova told them to stop. They were steady at the free-throw line going 7-for-7 before missing the last one at the end of the first quarter.
However what the Czech Republic did well was to take care of the basketball, just turning the ball over 5 times while leading (33-24) at half time.
After the break France went back to basics and Esther Moisan Niamke (left) went on the war path scoring 10 third-quarter points which included two three-pointers.
Niamke opened the second half with a trey for France which was quickly cancelled by Michaela Vojtková who scored her side first three-pointer.
The Czech Republic hit the destruct button themselves after Vojtková missed three long distance attempts.
Mamignan Touré started the French offensive with back to back baskets. France stopped all the fancy stuff and played direct basketball which resulted in Niamke, Margaux Galliou-Loko and Alice Nayo all scoring as France went into the lead for the first time in the game (37-36).
Ptackova decided to sub out most of his players. But little changed for the Czech Republic with Niamke hitting a second trey from exactly the same position as her first (40-36) with just under 28 minutes played.
The Czech Republic's coaching staff used a time-out which ended the French dominance for the rest of the quarter.
A trey in the dying seconds by Dominika Pohunková kept the Czech Republic in the game (41-45) going into the final quarter.
Christelle Diallo who had been hampered by foul problems was able to throw her weight into the battle with back to back scores. France's advantage went into double digits after back to back scores from Lola De Angelis and Niamke (55-44).
The last four minutes were rather untidy with France never in danger of losing the game.
Tereza Vyoralová was the top scorer for the Czech Republic with 11 points. France have qualified for the next phase of the competition and meet the Netherlands next to determine which team wins Group D.
France: Romane Bernies 2, Claire Stievenard 4 (4 steals), Esther Moisan Niamke 18, Olivia Epoupa 0, Mamignan Touré 11, Alice Nayo 6, Sara Chevaugeon 0, Margaux Galliou-Loko 6 (13 rebounds), Jodie Cornelie 6, Lola De Angelis 2, Christelle Diallo 4, Marie Mbuyamba 2
What happened on day 2 in Oradea
The Netherlands remain perfect on the second day of action at the Global Vision FIBA Europe U18 European Championship for Women after recovering from a poor start to beat the Slovak Republic (49-42).
Loyce Bettonvil and Richelle van der Keijl scored 12 points and had 8 rebounds each for the Netherlands. Angelika Slamová was the game leading scorer with 13 points for the Slovak Republic.
The Slovak Republic and Croatia meet each other in the final game in group D to determine which team joins France and the Netherlands in the qualifying round.
Spain blew Poland apart (93-37) in Group B. Spain had the game wrapped up leading (21-7) with just eight minutes played.
Andrea Vilaró led the way for Spain with 22 points while Astou Barro Ndour Gueye added 21 points.
Saso Rebernik (above in picture) is the head coach for Slovenia for the first time this year after six years as assistant coach at U16, U18 and U19 level.
His team bounced back from the opening day loss to Spain with a victory against Lithuania (62-48). Rebeca Abramovic helped herself to 15 first-half points as Slovenia went into the locker room leading (38-30).
The second half was Slovenia youth basketball at its best with solid transition plays with plenty of fast breaks. Abramovic finished with 22 points while Nina Gabrovsek added 19 points and dished out 5 assists.
For Lithuania Ieva Preskienyte scored 10 points.
In Group C, Serbia had a comfortable win against Ukraine (61-41).
A 18-0 run which started late in the second quarter finished with four minutes to play in the third quarter (46-21). It more or less ended the game as a contest. Katarina Vuckovic was the top performer with 11 points and 11 rebounds for Serbia.
Belgium were not as crisp on day 2 but did just enough to beat Italy (61-53). Emma Meesseman (in picture) was again in a class on her own leading her team in all the categories and finished with her second double-double, this time 17 points and 16 rebounds.
For Italy Francesca Dotto was the top scorer with 13 points.
The 2010 FIBA Europe U18 champions Italy must beat Ukraine to escape the relegation round.
Return to the top of page
Leave FIBA Europe U18 European Championship 2011 page and go to U18 history
Return to FIBA Europe day 2 top of page
FIBA Europe European Championship basketball picture credits:
FIBA Europe / Viktor Rébay
FIBA Europe / Elio Castoria
Global Vision - Division A
Final Round
14 August 2011: Belgium beat France for the title
13 August 2011: France and Belgium qualify for the final
12 August 2011: France joins Belgium, Spain and Sweden in semi-final
Qualifying Round
11 August 2011: The Czech Republic, Italy, Romania and Slovenia miss quarter-finals
10 August 2011: Italy and Romania close to be eliminated
08 August 2011: Belgium, France, Spain and Sweden already in quarter-finals
Preliminary Round
06 August 2011: Lithuania, Slovak Republic and Ukraine in relegation group
05 August 2011: Russia eliminated while Slovenia bounce back
04 August 2011: France start well while Emma Meesseman from Belgium shines
Pannergy - Division B
Final Round - Classification
14 August 2011: Croatia complete Grand Slam in picking up the trophy
13 August 2011: Croatia and Greece win promotion
12 August 2011: Hungary fall to Latvia while Croatia, Finland & Greece are still in the race
Qualifying Round
11 August 2011: Quarter-finals pairing set
10 August 2011: Finland, Croatia and Belarus remain unbeaten
09 August 2011: Hungary have a big win while Finland dominate the Nordics
Preliminary Round
07 August 2011: 12 teams ready for the second phase
06 August 2011: Promotion dreams for England and Switzerland are over
05 August 2011: Hungary keep home fans happy