Women’s EuroBasket 2019 tips off in Latvia and Serbia
By Kim Doss
Several WNBA players take part as group play gets underway
Day one of EuroBasket 2019 is in the books as the opening day of the group stage got underway in Latvia and Serbia on Thursday. If you missed the preview by Ben Dull and Jenn Hatfield, you can find it here. Now, for the games…
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Group B: Sweden 67, Montenegro 51
Something had to give. Sweden had lost its last six opening round games in EuroBasket. Montenegro had come out on the losing end in its last four preliminary round games.
From the rankings, it appeared that Montenegro would have the upper hand. They came in ranked No. 26 in the FIBA World Rankings; Sweden is No. 41. It didn’t play out that way on the court, though, with the Swedes walking away with a 16-point victory. Sweden dominated in 3-point shooting, connecting on 45 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. They also had a decided advantage in rebounding, where the out-preformed Montenegro 50-30.
Sweden’s Amanda Zahui B and Montenegro’s Glory Johnson made their absences from the WNBA worth it, as both led their teams in scoring and rebounds. Zahui B went for a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Johnson was close, putting up 15 points and corralling 9 boards.
Group B: France 74, Czech Republic 61
The second game in Riga, Latvia featured the No. 4-ranked France against No. 12 Czech Republic. France had won the last three match-ups between the two nations. They were also protecting an 11-game winning streak in the group stage of EuroBasket. When it was all said and done, they had a four-game streak against the Czech team and a 12-game streak in the preliminary rounds.
The French team features two WNBA players in Marine Johannes and Bria Hartley, but they were led by Olivia Epoupa. Epoupa paced her team in points (18), assists (6) and steals (6). Remana Hejdova was the stand-out for the Czech Republic, leading all scorers with 19 points and adding 4 steals.
Group C: Hungary 88, Slovenia 84
The Serbian part of the tournament got started with the clash between Hungary and Slovenia. The teams tipped off in Nis, where FIBA’s No. 50 team held off No. 63 in the day’s first close contest.
Bernadett Hatar and the Phoenix Mercury’s Yvonne Turner led the way for the Hungarian team. Turner led all scorers with 23 points and dished out 6 assists. Hatar had a double-double with 21 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Slovenia made a game of it behind Teja Oblak and Shante Evans. Oblak led the team with 21 points, while Evans added 18. Evans added 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block to fill the stat sheet. Nika Baric led the game with 10 assists.
Group A: Great Britain 74, Latvia 60
No. 25 Great Britain came into the tournament having lost five consecutive games in the group stages of Women’s EuroBasket. Three of those five games were blowouts, with the British team succumbing by 22 or more points. Considering that the game was being held in Riga, it seemed like the 24th-ranked Latvian team had everything in their favor.
Riga proved once again to favor the lower-ranked team, though. Great Britain walked away with a double-digit victory behind the dominant play of Johannah Leedham.
Leedham came into the tournament on a high. During qualification, she ranked fifth among all European players with a 27.8 average efficiency. In the opening round, she led the game in points (24) and steals (7), and she tied in blocks (2). She led her team in assists with 6. The only stat she didn’t lead the British team in was rebounding, which went to Temi Fagbenle with 10.
Elina Dikaioulaku and Paula Strautmane did everything they could, but it wasn’t enough. Dikaioulaku led her team with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Strautmane added 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.
Group D: Belgium 67, Russia 54
The 11th-ranked Russian team and the 16th-ranked Belgium team both feature WNBA players. Maria Vadeeva has already been away from her Los Angeles teammates for a month, joining her Russian team in late May. Belgium’s Emma Meesseman and Kim Mestdagh left Washington just a few weeks later.
The Russians are playing in their 14th straight EuroBasket. No other country has an active streak that long. Over the history of the tournament, they have averaged 71.4 points per game. That, too, is a record unmet by any other team.
That history didn’t help the Russian team on Thursday. Instead, Belgium pulled off the mild upset. They did it on the back of superior 3-point and free throw shooting and winning the turnover battle.
Neither team was great from beyond the arc, but Belgium outshot Russia 26 percent to 18 percent. They forced the Russians into 18 turnovers, while only committing 11 of their own. And the freebies? Belgium shot 83 percent from the line, while Russia went an abysmal 47 percent. Belgium was also superior when it came to sharing the ball, assisting on 18 shots compared to Russia’s 12.
Vadeeva led Russia with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but she was outdone by Meesseman, who gathered 29 points and 9 rebounds for Belgium. Mestdagh had 4 of Belgium’s 8 steals.
Group C: Italy 57, Turkey 54
Yet another game that didn’t go according to the FIBA rankings. Turkey came in as the No. 6 team in the world. Italy was 25 spots lower, not even in the top 30. In four previous games, Italy had never defeated Turkey. In the group stages, Turkey had won nine of their last ten games. They hadn’t lost in this phase of the tournament since 2015. Turkey had the best scoring defense of any team in the tournament, giving up only 58.7 ppg.
None of that mattered on Thursday.
In a low-scoring affair, the two teams were fairly even across the statistical board. Giorgia Sottana lead the game in scoring with 16 points, while Turkey was led by Olcay Cakir with 13. Kiah Stokes had 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks for Turkey. No one had more rebounds than Stokes.
It all came down to who made one more play than the other team. On Thursday, the low-scoring, defensive game that Turkey is so good at didn’t go their way. For the first time, Italy walked away with the victory.
Group A: Spain 95, Ukraine 77
Spain is the No. 2 team in the world. They showed why when they went up against 38th-ranked Ukraine. They hadn’t lost an opening-round game in EuroBasket since 2005, and they weren’t about to start this year.
In a high-scoring affair, both teams had players who scored over 30 points. Alina Iagupova had a game-high 38 for Ukraine, but it just wasn’t enough–especially when Marta Xargay was putting up 31 points for Spain and Xargay’s team was shooting an astounding 52 percent from the 3-point line. They “only” shot 46 percent from two.
Spain’s ability to get the ball to the shooters led to 26 assists. Their ability to take care of the ball saw them limit turnovers to just 10.
Ukraine’s 77 points were the fourth-highest by any team who played Thursday. They trailed only their opponent, Hungary, and Slovenia. It was just their misfortune that they opened against the best team in the tournament.
Group D: Serbia 55, Belarus 53
Latvia’s co-host had more luck in the opening round. Belarus was trying to end a five-game losing streak in EuroBasket–the longest of any team in the 2019 tournament. It wasn’t to be, as the No. 8 team from Serbia was able to keep their nose in front of No. 13 Belarus to earn the victory.
Serbia’s Sonja Petrovic led all scorers with 18, while Belarus was paced by Anastasiya Verameyenka with 13. Alex Bentley, on a leave from the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, led the game with 4 assists.
Looking forward
The games continue on Friday beginning with a match-up between Sweden and the Czech Republic. That will be followed by Montenegro vs. France, Slovenia vs. Turkey, Latvia vs. Ukraine, Belgium vs. Belarus, Italy vs. Hungary, Spain vs. Great Britain, and Serbia vs. Russia.
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