The weekend at Women’s EuroBasket 2019
By Kim Doss
A look at the results from Friday and Sunday.
FIBA Women’s EuroBasket got underway on Thursday with a few minor upsets and a dominant performance by Spain, the tournament’s top team. Games continued on Friday in Latvia and Serbia, then picked up again on Sunday after an off-day on Saturday.
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Friday
Group B: Czech Republic 71, Sweden 64
Sweden came into the game on a high after beating Montenegro in the opening game. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, had to face No. 4 France in the opener. The 12th-ranked Czech team was looking to get back on its feet. They accomplished that behind 23 points from Renata Brezinova.
For the Swedes, Amanda Zahui B once again stood out. She led the team with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. She also added 2 steals to her stat line. It just wasn’t enough to overcome a balanced effort from the Czech Republic, who had four players in double figures.
Both teams ended day two 1-1 in group play.
Group B: France 88, Montenegro 53
France showed once again why they are the class of Group B and the No. 2 team in the tournament. They handled Montenegro easily, moving to 2-0 in the group and dropping Montenegro to 0-2.
Marine Johannes led the French in scoring with 15, but Valeriane Ayayi was tops in efficiency with +23. Ayayi put together a stat line of 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal, and a block. In addition to Johannes and Ayayi, Endene Miyem and Sandrine Gruda also scored in double figures with 10 and 11 points respectively.
After leading France in scoring with 18 points in the opening game, Olivia Epoupa didn’t score in game two. She did add 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and a steal, though.
Montenegro had only two players score 10 or more points–Bozica Mujovic (12) and Jovana Pasic (10). The loss was their fifth straight in EuroBasket, the first time they have lost more than four straight games in the competition.
Group C: Slovenia 62, Turkey 55
Sixth-ranked Turkey struggled early in the tournament. They fell to 0-2 after losing to Slovenia on Friday. The Slovenian team was able to hold Turkey to just 55 points, the first time in their last three games that they have held their opponent to under 88.
Kiah Stokes had an outstanding effort in the loss, putting together a line of 17 points, 19 rebounds, a steal, and three blocks. It wasn’t enough, though.
Slovenian shooting guard Teja Oblak led all scorers with 18 points. She added 3 rebounds, an assist, and 3 steals. Annamaria Prezelj (13 points) and Shante Evans (10 points) joined her in double digits for Slovenia. Their teammate Nika Baric was close, adding 9 points while also contributing 5 rebounds, 12 assists, and a steal. It was Baric’s second straight game with at least 10 assists.
Group A: Latvia 82, Ukraine 74
Elina Dikaioulaku and Alina Iagupova put up monster games for their teams, but it was the co-host Latvia and Dikaioulaku who came out on top.
Iagupova didn’t match the 38 points she put up in the opening round, but she still had 28 to pace Ukraine. She added 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals to her impressive totals.
Dikaioulaku helped Latvia move to 1-1 by going off for 33 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Zenta Melnika was almost as impressive as her teammate, garnering 18 points on 8-for-9 from the field. Ieva Pulvere and Kate Kreslina each added 10 points for the Latvian side.
The only other Ukrainian player with double figures was Olesia Malashenko, who contributed 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.