E.Championships Qaulifying Round U16 Standings Group E 1. Serbia 5-0 2. Sweden 3-2 3. Czech R. 3-2 4. Hungary 3-2 5. Belarus 1-4 6. Poland 0-5 Group F 1. Spain 4-1 2. France 4-1 3. Russia 4-1 4. Latvia 2-3 5. Ukraine 1-4 6. Belgium 0-5 Classification 1. Lithuan. 3-0 2. Turkey 2-1 3. Greece 1-2 4. Slovakia 0-3 EC U16 Div.A Preliminary Round Standings Group A 1. Czech R. 3-0 2. Hungary 2-1 3. Belarus 1-2 4. Slovakia 0-3 Group B 1. Serbia 2-1 2. Sweden 2-1 3. Poland 1-2 4. Lithuan. 1-2 Group C 1. Spain 3-0 2. Latvia 2-1 3. Belgium 1-2 4. Turkey 0-3 Group D 1. France 3-0 2. Russia 2-1 3. Ukraine 1-2 4. Greece 0-3 E.Championships U16 Qualifying Round Standings Div.B Group E 1. Italy 5-0 2. Slovenia 3-2 3. Finland 3-2 1. Bosnia 2-3 2. Croatia 1-4 4. Portugal 1-4 Group F 1. Germany 5-0 2. Israel 4-1 1. Holland 3-2 2. U.Kingd. 2-3 3. Ireland 1-4 4. Romania 0-5 E.Championships Preliminary Round U16 Standings Div.B Group A 1. Italy 3-0 2. Slovenia 2-1 3. Finland 1-2 4. Monten. 0-3 Group B 1. Bosnia 2-0 2. Croatia 1-1 4. Portugal 0-2 Group C 1. Holland 3-0 2. U.Kingd. 2-1 3. Ireland 1-2 4. Bulgaria 0-3 Group D 1. Germany 2-0 2. Israel 1-1 4. Romania 0-2 E.Championships U16 Final Standings 1. France 2. Spain 3. Czech R. 4. Serbia 5. Sweden 6. Russia 7. Latvia 8. Hungary 9. Belarus 10. Poland 11. Ukraine 12. Belgium 13. Lithuan. 14. Turkey 15. Greece 16. Slovakia E.Championships U16 Final Standings Div.B 1. Italy 2. Germany 3. Slovenia 4. Israel 5. Finland 6. Bosnia 7. U.Kingd. 8. Holland 9. Croatia 10. Ireland 11. Portugal 12. Romania Stats Leaders Div.A Points 1 Malashenko, UKR 25.6 2 S. Niedola, LAT 19.9 3 M. Filonchyk, BLR 19.6 4 S. Karaman, TUR 18.0 5 A. Tarasova, RUS 17.1 Rebounds 1 Malashenko, UKR 15.6 2 A. Niedola, LAT 15.3 3 S. Krnjic, SRB 13.5 4 M. Filonchyk, BLR 13.4 5 A. Tarasova, RUS 12.3 Assists 1 L. Rodriguez, ESP 5.0 2 Kabengano, SWE 3.9 3 N. Mayombo, BEL 3.6 4 D. Tongar, TUR 3.3 5 D. Zintikaite, LTU 3.3 Stats Leaders Div.B Points 1 M. Tavic, BIH 24.6 2 N. Baric, SLO 20.6 3 V. Kesänen, FIN 18.8 4 M. Correia, POR 18.6 5 L .Richter, FIN 18.5 Rebounds 1 Turcinovic, MNT 11.8 2 L. Saarinen, FIN 11.0 3 Rahmanovic, BIH 10.7 4 B. Galinski, ISR 10.6 5 A. Stoiedin, ROM 10.4 Assists 1 T. Kapor, BIH 4.4 2 Brunckhorst, GER 3.7 3 M. Tavic, BIH 3.7 4 N. Baric, SLO 2.6 5 C. Miloglav, CRO 2.6

France won European Championships U16 Women 2007 (Photo: Fiba)

French U16 National Team 2007
Tchatchouang	Strunc	Bousbaa	Vernerey	Zouzouo

Baric, Tavic, Greinacher, Tava and Galinski

All Tournument team;

Nika Baric (168-G-92) was named most valuable player of the Termosteps U16 European Championship Women Division B after leading Slovenia to the bronze medal with a 66-61 victory against Israel.

Nika Baric collected 23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in the final.

She averaged 20.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.8 steals over 8t games during the tournament.
She received the most MVP votes from the U16 tournament coaches and headed the U16 All-Tournament.
(Nika Baric was also the second highest scorer in the scoring list for Slovenia at the UMCOR U18 European Championship Women in Timisoara, Romania, earlier this summer.)

The other four members of the U16 All-Tournament team are:

Matea Tavic (177-G-92) from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sonja Greinacher (185-C-92) from Germany
Alessandra Tava (183-F-91) from Italy
Bar Galinski (181-F-92) from Israel.

The fair play award was given to Federica Nannucci (169-G-91) from Italy.


Federica Nannucci

Alice Quarta

A moment of magic by Alice Quarta pushed this game to another level, first a block on the defensive followed by a coast to coast that concluded a 12-0 run putting Italy (12-8) in front. The period was played at a high pace with Germany keeping in contact from the free-throw line. Italy brought the first period to an exciting end on the buzzer with Alice Richter picking up an offensive rebound right under the basket and putting the ball in to give Italy a 3-point lead at the end of the first period.


Finja Schaake

The lead changed a couple of times in an action packed second period with Finja Schaake scoring 9 points for Germany. Clutch 3-point shooting from Irene Pieropan kept Italy in control as they went into the interval leading by 3 points.


Giulia Brotto

Italy held Germany scoreless for almost six minutes in the 3rd period with the only Italian points coming from individual exploits as both teams switched to an aggressive zone defence (38-31). Italy increased their advantage slowly and a Giulia Brotto trey extended their lead to 10 points (45-35)
But Germany responded immediately with 5 points in two plays from Sarah-Marie Frankenberger . Italy still took a 4-point lead going into the final period.

Space on the court became a premium as both teams closed any gaps immediately. For Germany the turning point in the match occurred when Svenja Brunckhorst went down hard after dishing out an assist to Fanziska Steiner (53-49) and had to leave the game. Germany, a little unsettled by this, allowed Italy to extend their advantage and by the time Alessandra Tava (183-F-91) hit a jump shot on the top of the key with 1:50 remaining to extend their advantage to 9 points (62-53) the outcome was clear. The German head coach, Alexandra Maerz, immediately called a timeout. Then Germany responded with a basket but Alice Quarta delivered the final knock-out blow 40 seconds from the end of the match with a jump-shot and Italy won the match (64-55).


Alessandra & Giulia Pasqualin

Tava
Giulia Pasqualin (176-G-91) finished with a game high 20 points while Alessandra Tava finished with 11 assists.

Boxscore

Slovenia win the bronze
Slovenia marked their authority right from the start of the match with a 10-0 run to open the first significant lead of the game (12-2) midway through the first period. Nika Baric and Lea Jogodic scored 9 points each as Slovenia concluded the first period (25-13) with a comfortable advantage of 12 points. A 15-0 sequence followed that was concluded by a trey by Avigiel Cohen in the second period putting her side in front for the first time in the match. The lead was to change three more times before the end of the period as both sides went on the offensive with Slovenia gaining the upper hand (41-33) at the interval.

Slovenia leading by 5 going into the final period had to endure an Israeli assault and with less than five minutes on the clock Slovenia's advantage was down to 2 (61-59). The key moment of the match came at the end of a patient build-up by Slovenia that resulted in a 3-pointer by Polono Zalar (64-59). The game lost its fluidity after that as players collided all over the court fighting for loose balls. Tjase Gortna and Yuval Levy both picked up their 5th personal foul at this stage. Israel were not able to score the decisive basket leaving the way free for Nika Baric to do the rest from the free-throw line as Slovenia won (66-61).

Nika Baric scored 23 points and was supported by Lea Jagodic with 17 points, while Shira Ben Barak finished with 17 points for Israel.

Nika Baric said after the match, "it was not an easy match. Israel are a very good team and that we played good defence helped us to win." Damir Grgic, Slovenia's

head coach added:" I am proud of my girls for the way they picked themselves up after yesterday's defeat, I am very proud of them."

Boxscore

Germany qualified for the final after an epic battle against Slovenia, a match that was decided 4 seconds before the end of the game by a well calculated move that ended with Sarah-Marie Frankenberger delivering a base-line jump-shot.

Four German players finished in double-digits with Sonja Greinacher : 18 points along with Svenja Brunckhorst : 14 points and 9 assists. Slovenia's top scorer, Nika Baric , finished with 23 points in a losing course (69-67).

Italy were made to work hard by the courageous Israeli players and only managed to pull away after 37 minutes of intense pressure to win comfortably (80-59).

Italy's scoring was spread evenly with five players in double figures while the Israeli's offensive threat came principally from Bar Galinski and Shira Ben Barak.

In the other matches in the main Finland beat England (65-46), a result that pleased the Jyrki Suhonen Finnish head coach who commented after the match: "It was a hard match: the 7^th game into the tournament. Our players are tired, we beat Croatia two days ago which was huge. Our best rebounder got hurt but England always plays hard and I am so happy that the players stepped up and took care of the business."


Lotta Richter

Lotta Richter said about the tournament "it has been a great tournament. It's been my first time and it is so amazing to play here. We have a wonderful team and we have played very well and we have improved as the tournament went on and we adapted to the heat and we are all happy.

For more information go to www.wbbuzz.com/News/FIBA/U16-European-Championship/

Svenja Brunckhorst

The German player, Svenja Brunckhorst said that: “Last year the team was different with more individual players taking on more responsibilities each, whereas this year the team is completely different where everybody has their roles but it's more team-oriented. Although this is my second time at the Europeans U16 it is a completely different experience to the first time. And at the present moment I am enjoying it.”



Carmen Miloglav & Adrijana Bosnjak

Carmen Miloglav from Croatia commented that “it has been a difficult tournament for us. The results have not been as we expected and we are not satisfied with the way things have turned out for us. Because we can play much better than this.” And her teammate Adrijana Bosnjak added that “I think that we are a good team but just have been unlucky, so we can't really say that we have been enjoying this year's experience.”

Lianne Miller

Lianne Miller from England said that “it has been a challenge sometimes under the basket but as for the tournament it's fine and I am actually enjoying it. Initially I thought it would be much harder so I am happy that I can compete in my position.” Jessica Hurd commented: “It's very exciting and it's been a challenge to get into the games. We are not used to be in tournaments like this … and the heat! Yes, I am really enjoying it.”

Shira Barak & Shira Shecht

Israeli's Shira Ben Barak is enjoying the tournament and said it's “great.” And Shira Shecht added that “we are playing against the best players in all of Europe.” Shira Ben Barak continued: “Everything in the tournament is good and the environment is nice and we support each other.” Shira Shecht commented that “we are playing very well in general, we are not used to be playing against bigger players but we have managed alright.” Then her teammate, Shira Ben Barak, said “in this competition we had to fight our way through and so far it has been fun. Our major goal was to get into the semi-finals.”

Giulia Pasqualin & Federica Tognalini

The Italian player Giulia Pasqualin commented that “playing against foreign teams and foreign players who you do not know that's beautiful. while Federica Tognalini added " It is a great experience playing against other countries and for most of us it is the first time."

Milou Dekker & Rianne Hofstraat

Dutch players Milou Dekker and Rianne Hofstraat commented: “Our supporters are fantastic. We do not have the words to express our gratitude. As a team we have blended well. And we are having a great tournament and are learning all the time. We do not have the words in English to describe our feelings to be here except for unbelievable.

   Division B: The last day of the Qualifying Round - Aug. 3, 2007

Alice Quarta

The semi-finalist from group E was already known before the final day and the interest in this group was in the minor placing. A bad second quarter for Croatia cost them the match against Finland (67 - 79) and now leave them in playing in the 9^th - 12^th classification round. Portugal recorded their first victory of the competition beating Slovenia (67-66). Italy beat Bosnia (74-58) with 26 points coming from Alice Quarta.

Bar Galinski

In group nothing was sure with 3 teams still in the hunt for a semi-final spot. Israel beat Ireland (40-31) in a low scoring game with Bar Galinski the match winner scoring 13-points and picking 18 boards and blocking two shots.

Ronny Kahn, Israel's head coach, commented after his team's victory: "When things are not in your hands, you have to wait for other people to help you. That's the hardest thing for a coach. It was a great achievement for us as we are not considered to be one of the top four teams in terms of talent here and physically structured. My girls are heroes."

Lianne Miller & Katrin Chiemeka

England beat Romania (60-54) in the match for minor places with double doubles for Lianne Miller (18pts &15 rebounds) and Katrin Chiemeka (20pts & 11 rebounds).

Sonja Greinacher

A clinical performance by Germany in their demolition of Holland in a one sided game (75-35) put them in the semi-final. Sonja Greinacher scored game high 18 points and 6 rebounds.

Germany's head coach, Alexandra Marz, said "Okay I think it was a difficult game for us, especially in defence and also offence. Congratulations to the girls as they really played well and were focused to the point."

   Division A: The last day of the Qualifying Round - Aug. 3, 2007
GROUP F

Russia U16-Belgium U16 72:67 (16-11, 22-19, 13-19, 21-18)

Russia U16 thought probably more about another game than about Belgium. Spain and France was the game that had more interest for the Russian team, however Russia has to beat Belgium in any case. In the last game of the Qualifying Round of Termosteps U16 European Championship Women Russia overcame Belgium 72:67, but did not qualify to the semifinals as Spain beat France 77:63. Three teams in the group finished with 4-1 record and only Russia stayed out of the semis. Alexandra Tarasova (192-C-91) led the winners with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Viktoria Medvedeva (185-C-91) nailed 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Yana Matveeva (182-F-92) added 10.
Russia started with 16:11 in the opening quarter. In the midway through the second quarter a lead was increased to 28:17. The advantage was still 50:42 with three minutes left in the third.
Meanwhile Belgium created a 12-1 run and reduced to 56:54. It was then Alexandra Tarasova who answered with seven consecutive points that gave Russia back the lead 65:63. The favorites kept the score and finished third in the group.
Russia will play tomorrow against hungary for the 5/8 places. Belgium meets Belarus on the stage for the 9/12 places.
Russia U16: Alexandra Tarasova 19+15 rebs, Viktoria Medvedeva 15+10 rebs, Yana Matveeva 10+9 rebs
Belgium U16: Shamira Linskens (183-C-91) 16+10 rebs, Noemie Mayombo (168-G-91) 11

France U16-Spain U16 63:77 (13-21, 21-14, 12-23, 17-19)

Spain and France had one of the toughest and most interesting game in the U16 European Championship. Spain U16 not only recovered from the loss from Russian team, however left the latter out of the semis. Spain won one of the most important game so far beating France U16 77:63. Leonor Rodriguez (177-G-91) (177-G-91) (177-G-91) led the winners with 20 points. Gimeno Martinez posted 19, while Amaya Ganuza (188-F-91) added 11. Allison Vernerey (191-C-91) ended up with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort. Three teams in the group finished with 4-1 record and only Russia stayed out of the semis. France had to lose not more than 10 points, however did not sove the task and finished second.

The defending champions Spain took the first spot in the group, even though yesterday many specialist did not predict them a place in the semis.The game was back and forth in the early but Spain had a 9-2 run to pull ahead 21:13 after one period. France answered with 11-4 run as both teams closed the half with 35:34.
Spain had a desire to win more and made two spurts to stay on the way. With a 14-0 run Spain was in front having 53:44 in the end of the third. A 17-4 rush later in the game answered fior all the questions.

France U16: Allison Vernerey 14+10 rebs, Diandra Tchatchouang (186-F/C-91) 10
Spain U16: Leonor Rodriguez (177-G-91) 20, Gimeno Martinez 19, Amaya Ganuza 11

Ukraine U16-Latvia U16 65:85 (9-16, 17-26, 16-24, 23-19)
Latvia made the fans to celebrate in the last game of the Qualifying Round at the Termosteps U16 European Championship. With the superb three quarters the hosts beat Ukraine 85:65. Sabine Niedola (182-F-91) (182-F-91) top-scored for the winners with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Linda Pagrode (167-G-92) ended up with 16, while Anna Sonka (179-F-91) collected 14 points. Olesya Malashenko (188-F-91) as usual represented Ukarinian side with 29 points and 16 rebounds. Latvia improved to 2-3 and play in the 5th-8th place games. Ukraine is fifth and will play for the 9-12 places.

Latvia went on a 6-0 run already in the opening tip. Both teams could not score in the last 2 minutes as Latvia closed the first with 16:9. In the second period the gap became bigger as the hosts played more offensive. Ukraine had no team game at all. A best result was only 1 assist that some players finished with. Ukraine lost also the third quarter and there was nothing they could hope for. Although Olesya Malashenko's effort helped the team to win the last quarter, that was the end of the game.

Ukraine U16: Olesya Malashenko (188-F-91) 29+16 rebs, Anastasiya Bogdanova (179-G-91) 12
Latvia U16: Sabine Niedola 17+12 rebs, Linda Pagrode 16, Anna Sonka 14

GROUP E Sweden U16-Belarus U16 60:48 (15-12, 18-4, 13-16, 14-16)
Sweden U16 beat Belarus in the last game of the Qualifying Round of the Termosteps U16 European Championship for Women. Having won the first two quarters Sweden prepared for the rest and led to 60:48 win. Nijaz Goga (185-G-76) paced the winners with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Salome Kabengano (176-G-92) and Frida Fogdemark (184-F-91) finished with 11 points each. Alitsyia Kurouskaya (170-G-91) top-scored with 16 points in the losing effort.

Belarus U16 had the lead only once in the game. It was in the beginning of the game when Chubkavets made a lay-up. In the rest of the game the spectators saw only one team in front-Sweden. The team ripped off a 15-0 spurt and eventually pulled ahead 41:20 early in the third period. That happened after Sweden won the second 18:4.
In the second half Belarus woke up, but they missed too much in the first half. Alitsyia Kurouskaya and Veranika Valeuskaya (170-G-91)'s effort was not enough as the leader of the team Filonchyk scored only 9 points. As a result Sweden outscored Belarus 60:48 to finish third in the group.

Tomorrow Sweden faces Latvia for the 5/8 places. Belarus will meet Belgium on another stage for the 9-12 places.

Sweden U16: Nijaz Goga 20+10 rebs, Salome Kabengano 11, Frida Fogdemark 11
Belarus U16: Alitsyia Kurouskaya 16, Veranika Valeuskaya 10

Poland U16-Hungary U16 54:70 (8-15, 13-18, 13-21, 20-16)

Hungary U16 finished the Qualifying round on a happy note beating Poland 70:54. Krisztina Raksanyi (180-G-91) led the winners with 16 points. Dorottya Tamis (171-G-91) ended up with 9, while Alma Nemeth (180-F-92) produced 8. Aleksandra Dziwinska (170-G-91) nailed 14 points for the Polish squad. The latter ended up with no wins on the second stage and finished with 0-5 record. Hungary increased to a positive result (3-2) but is only 4th.

Aleksandra Dziwinska with a two opened the game for Poland. That was however the only lead of the Polish team. Hungary caught up very quickly and finished the quarter with 15:8. In the second quarter Adamecz brought the favorites the 10-points deficit after a jump shot.
The third quarter was not a lucky one for Poland. Hungary pushed the tempo and reached 20 points. Both teams played 30 minutes of the game and Hungary stayed in front with 54:34. Only in the last quarter Hungary did not worry too much about the game that was done. Poland won the last quarter 20:16 that only reduced to 16 points. Hungary celebrated the third win in the group and finished fourth.

Poland U16: Aleksandra Dziwinska 14, Roze Ratajczak (178-G-91) 9
Hungary U16: Krisztina Raksanyi 16, Dorottya Tamis 9, Alma Nemeth 8

Serbia U16- Czech Republic U16 67:65 (17-18, 15-17, 17-17, 18-13)

Serbia U16 and Czech Republic had an outstanding performance from both sides. Serbia guaranteed the semifinal place even before the gam and in case of loss could finish second. For Czech Republic U16 the game had more interest as they could be out of the semis due to some factors. Luckily for the latter they lost the game but advanced from the second spot. Serbia grabbed 67:65 win and the first place in Group E of the Termosteps U16 European Championship. Tijana Ajdukovic (197-C-91) paced the winners with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Maja Vucurovic (188-F-91) collected 15, while Krnjic added 10. Lenka Bartakova (170-G-91) top-scored for the Czechs with 15 points.

Czech Republic desired more win in the game and went on a 6-0 run. They still held the victory in the end of the first, 18:17. With an even game in the second quarter Lenka Bartakova's jump shot brought Czech Republic 35:32 at the half.
Elhotova's free throw and the Czechs had 8 points deficit in the third quarter. The gap was reduced as Serbia scored some baskets. Lenka Bartakova gave back the 8-point lead, but that was the last for the team. Serbia tied at 62:62 and then led the game to a 67:65 win.

Serbia U16: Tijana Ajdukovic 17+10 rebs, Maja Vucurovic 15, Krnjic 10+9 rebs
Czech Republic U16: Lenka Bartakova 15, Andrea Sladkova (186-C-91) 9

Romania surprised Holland in the opening period as they went on an (11-0) run to take the lead briefly (13-11) in the first period. Yvonne Lansink's concept of total team basketball was in evidence as Holland picked up and dominated the rest of the match in all domains to win comfortably (79-59). Milou Dekker (176-G-91) led the scoring with 17-points. The players, Milou Dekker and Rianne Hofstraat (183-C-92), in a joint statement for the team said "it is unbelievable we are having a great tournament and are learning all the time and our supporters are fantastic."



Svenja Brunckhorst

Germany were made to work hard for every single point and the final result does not give a true reflection of the game. Germany was always in control offensively after opening the match (11-0) but the physical "never say die" approach of Ireland raffled them at times. Svenja Brunckhorst (176-G-91) scored 11 points for Germany. Alexandra Maerz, the German head coach, was generally pleased with her team's performance.

In the group's other match, Israel beat England in a very hard physical game. Though England managed to restrict Bar Galinski's influence in the game. After a tight opening with both teams playing man to man, Israel made the break with Bea Galinski making two big baskets towards the end of the first period (12-7). England never really recovered from this and their poor free throwing and high turnover counts allowed Israel to hold on to the match despite having key players in foul problems (60-50). England's Ella Clark (178-F-92) top scored with 16-points in England's losing cause.

Shira Schecht, an Israel player, said that "we watched the video of England and knew they were physical, so we were prepared".

For more information go to www.wbbuzz.com/News/FIBA/U16-European-Championship/

   Division B: Italy setting the pace in Group E - Aug. 1, 2007
Italy moved clear at the top of the U16 European Championship Women Division B after registering a comfortable 62-39 victory over Portugal in the qualifying round of group E.


Portugal required a win in this match for any chance of qualifying for the semi-final and in the first period they matched their opponents. Italy stepped up the pace in the second period and slowly took hold of the game. Portugal's foul problems hampered their progress in the second half of the match leaving the way free for Italy. Elena Bestagno finished with a game high 16 points for Italy with Federica Tognalini dominating the boards with 12 rebounds. Portugal's Luiana Livulo recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Vilja .............Matea Tavic

Kesanen

Matea Tavic (177-G-92)'s 29 points could not prevent Bosnia and Herzegovina losing their 100% record after they suffered a (81-75) loss to Finland in over-time. Matea Tavic scored 29 points for Bosnia while Vilja Kesanen scored 24 points for Finland.

The game was tied at 63-63 after regulation time, but Finland kept their nerves in overtime to establish a six-point gap at the buzzer thanks largely to the efforts of Vilja Kesanen, who ended the game with 24 points.

Nika Baric


Slovenia waited until the second period before establishing their authority over Croatia in an entertaining match. Nika Baric (168-G-92) scored 30 points as Slovenia won (79-72).

For more information go to www.wbbuzz.com/News/FIBA/U16-European-Championship/

   Division B: Montenegro record first win ever at U16 level - Aug. 1, 2007
Montenegro recorded their first ever victory in Div B U16 against Bulgaria as they take a 2-point lead into the second leg that will be played on Thursday for 13th place

   Division A: The Qualifying Round begins - Jul. 31, 2007
Ukraine U16-Spain U16 65:77 (21-11, 10-20, 17-23, 17-23)

Ukraine U16 had a great game against the defending champion of U16 European Championship. Even though the team lost 65:77, it held the spectators alive throughout the whole game. With 21:11 in the first quarter Spain luckily woke up in the next threes. Vega Martinez (184-G-91) (184-G-91) led the winners with 25 points. Leonor Rodriguez (177-G-91), who usually top-scores for the team ended up with 14, while Cristina Barrios (170-G-91) added 12. Olesya Malashenko (188-F-91) collected 19 points and 16 rebounds in the losing effort.
Ukraine and Spain had 2 and 0 in their records, however they were switched in both of them. After that game 3 and 0 belongs to the teams as Spain tops the group with 3-0 and Ukraine stays on bottom with 0-3.

Ukraine tried really hard and in the first minutes they created 11-0 run. Olesya Malashenko's three gave the underdogs 11-1 lead. After Maznichenko made a free throw her team had the biggest 24:13 lead.
Meanwhile Spain tied the score at 31:31 as all the players went to the interims. Ukraine's last lead was at 38:37 and then the skill of the favorites was seen in the court. Winning the last two quarters with 23:17, Spain stayed undefeted and stepped forward to another title.

Ukraine U16: Olesya Malashenko 19+16 rebs, Alona Chygrynova (172-G-91) 14
Spain U16: Vega Martinez 25, Leonor Rodriguez 14, Cristina Barrios 12


Sweden U16-Hungary U16 47:53 (18-13, 11-11, 14-11, 4-18)

Hungary and Sweden stayed in the center of the group having 1-1 record after the Preliminary Round. Sweden that stayed in front for the first three quarters lost the last quarter and the game itself. Hungary produced 18-4 run in the last and grabbed the second win. Reka Balint (181-F-91) led the winners with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Krisztina Raksanyi (180-G-91) collected 9, while Dorottya Tamis (171-G-91) ended up with 8 points. Amanda Bazoukou (189-C-93) made a double-double for Sweden scoring 12 points and making 12 rebounds.

Reka Balint with a three opened the game as the both teams produced the most productive first quarter. Sweden took a control of the game and had 18:13 in the first quarter. Kesoi's lay-up gave Hungary the first lead in the second quarter as they lifted to 21:20. Salome Kabengano (176-G-92) kept Sweden in front with 29:24 at the half.

Itze Nunez's three gave Sweden the biggest lead in the third quarter, 40:29. It seemed that the leading team would not lose the game, however they did. Hungary made 16-2 run in the end of the game and were happy to get such a difficult win. They proved that the game consists of the four quarters.

Sweden U16: Amanda Bazoukou 12+12 rebs, Salome Kabengano 9
Hungary U16: Reka Balint 19+9 rebs, Krisztina Raksanyi 9, Dorottya Tamis 8


Poland U16-Czech Republic U16 47:83 (11-16, 13-28, 10-21, 13-18)
Czech Republic U16 stays on top of Group E defeating Poland 83:47. An overwhelming second quarter and the win in all the others brought the Czechs the first victory in the Qualifying Round. Lenka Bartakova (170-G-91) led the winners with 13 points. Andrea Sladkova (186-C-91) posted 12 points and made 11 rebounds, while Karolina Elhotova (179-G-92) scored 10. Magdalena Idziorek (177-G-92) had only 8 points for the Polish squad.

In the opening tip of the game it was the game between two even teams. Poland even led for some time as their last lead was at 9:8. Karolina Elhotova's jump shot gave Czechs 16:11 after first 10 minutes.
The second quarter was a nightmare for the Polish team. Czech Republic produced a basketball of a high quality and had 20 points at the half, 44:24.

In the third quarter the lead increased to 31 points as the favorites had 65:34. It was not a big deal to lead the game to the happy end. Czech Republic U16 sweeps Poland and improves to 3-0 in the group. The latter has no wins in the Qualifying Round with 0-3.

Poland U16: Magdalena Idziorek 8
Czech Republic U16: Lenka Bartakova 13, Andrea Sladkova 12+11 rebs, Karolina Elhotova 10


Serbia U16-Belarus U16 69:47 (21-12, 19-13, 15-17, 14-5)
Serbia U16 has the right way to the semifinals. In the first game of the Qualifying Round the team beat Belarus 69:47. Group E of the U16 European Championships for Women has now two undefeted leaders-Serbia and Czech Republic. Belarus dropped to 0-3 and covers the bottom. Maryia Filonchyk (187-F-92) top-scored for Belarus with 12 points and Alitsyia Kurouskaya (170-G-91) added 9. Sara Krnjic (194-C-91) led the winners with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Milana Zivadinovic (172-G-91) produced 11 points and made 14 rebounds, while Maja Vucurovic (188-F-91) netted 10.

Serbia made 6-0 in the opening tip of the game to feel more confident in the rest of the quarter. With 21:12 Serbia stayed in front of the first and later never looked behind. The favorites of the group went on a 15-0 run spanning the first and second quarters to open a 30:12 advantage. In the end of the second quarter both teams went to the interims with 40:25.
Belarus won the third quarter 15:17, but it could hardly give them a chance to hope for something else. Serbia kept tough defense in the last quarter and finished the game with 69:47.
Today Serbia plays against Hungary in the last game of the group. Belarus will face Poland in the last game for tonight.

Serbia U16: Sara Krnjic 12+14 rebs, Milana Zivadinovic 11+14 rebs, Maja Vucurovic 10
Belarus U16: Maryia Filonchyk 12, Alitsyia Kurouskaya 9


France U16-Belgium U16 75:70 (14-18, 17-9, 21-16, 23-27)
France U16 being the undefeated team in Group F had a tough win over Belgium that stays winless on that stage. France deserved 75:70 victory to stay on top of the group. Trailing 14 points with a bit more than 5 minutes in the game Belgium almost came back, but had lack of time. Diandra Tchatchouang (186-F/C-91) (186-F/C-91) and Allison Vernerey (191-C-91) paced the winners with 20 points each. Moreover they collected 23 rebounds altogether.Anne-Sophie De Bondt produced 14 points for Belgium, while Noemie Mayombo (168-G-91) added 12.

Belgium went on a lead in the opening quarter and finished the period having 18:14. The team increased to 22:16 early in the second quarter but was caught by the opponents. France answered with a 15-0 run as the game was even at 36:36.
France took the control of the game in the second half and had 14 points deficit with 5 minutes remaining. That was not the time however to celebrate. Noemi Borrey and Anne-Sophie De Bondt nailed some three-pointers and Miete Celus (175-G/F-91) 's jumper finished the 10-0 Belgian spurt. Belgium had only -1 with 30 seconds to play. Diandra Tchatchouang and Akmouche's free throws helped France to escape the win.

France U16: Diandra Tchatchouang 20+12 rebs, Allison Vernerey 20+11 rebs, Margaux Zouzouo (183-F-91) 15
Belgium U16: Anne-Sophie De Bondt 14, Noemie Mayombo 12



Russia U16-Latvia U16 89:74 (28-15, 15-23, 19-18, 27-18)
Russia U16 keeps their chances alive after a win over Latvia. In the first game of the Qualifying Round Russia team stormed with 89:74 victory. Veronika Dorosheva (188-F-91) led the winners with 23 points. Yana Matveeva (182-F-92) ended up with 18 points and 9 rebounds, while Alexandra Tarasova (192-C-91) collected 17 points and 19 rebounds. Sabine Niedola (182-F-91) shone for the hosts with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Russia and Latvia both had 1-1 record before the game with each other in Termosteps U16 European Championship for Women. Russia took an opportunity to stay closer to France and Spain that stay undefeated. The team started with 28:15 in the opening quarter and only once then stayed behind.
Meanwhile Latvia reduced to 43:38 in the end of the second quarter after Gotfrida made a free throw. The third quarter was the came back for the hosts. Anete Kirsteine (178-F-92)'s three gave Latvia the first lead at 49:47. But Russia were ahead by six points going into the fourth, and Yana Matveeva's three-pointer made it 72:56 with seven minutes play. In the end of the game Medvedeva's three ended up the game at 89:74. Russia increases to 2-1, while Latvia is 1-2.

Russia U16: Veronika Dorosheva 23, Yana Matveeva 18+9 rebs, Alexandra Tarasova 17+19 rebs
Latvia U16: Sabine Niedola 15+14 rebs, Anete Kirsteine 14

   Division A: Start of the Classification Round - Jul. 31, 2007 
Slovak Republic U16-Greece U16 56:57 (12-10, 19-15, 13-21, 12-11)

Slovak Republic U16 lost to Greece in the first game of the Classification Round. With no wins in the Preliminary Round Greece took the first win in U16 European Championship in Latvia. Anna Kavasila (186-C-91) made a lay-up for the winners on the last minute of the game. She finished the game second with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Christina Tsoukala (188-F/C-91) top-scored for Greece with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Dominika Baburova (180-G-91) collected 16 points in the losing effort.
Slovak Republic beat Greece in three quarters out of four. Unfortunately for the team that factor was more appropriate and pleasant for the Greek squad. The latter satisfied with 21:13 in the third and grabbed the first win. Greece went on a 5-0 run in the opening tip, but the first quarter belonged to Slovakia. Faberova with a jump shot lifted her team to 12:10 after the first 10 minutes.

In the second quarter Slovak Republic increased to 8 points. Dominika Baburova's three made the score 27:18 that was awful for the opponents at that time. Greece reduced to 31:25 at the half.

In the second half Greece controlled most of the game. They won the third quarter 21:13 and took control at 46:44 after third. With 55 for both teams Anna Kavasila made a lay-up for the winners on the last minute of the game. Veronika Simova (-F) went to the free throw line with no time left in the game. She scored only one that sent the victory for Greece.

Slovak Republic U16: Dominika Baburova 16, Veronika Simova 10+13 rebs, Faberova 10
Greece U16: Christina Tsoukala 14+8 rebs, Anna Kavasila 13+12 rebs, Georgia Panou (168-G-91) 12

Lithuania U16-Turkey U16 70:68 (20-26, 21-10, 10-17, 19-15)
Lithuania U16 is considered to be the only team in the Classification Round that tasted the wins before. The team finished the Preliminary Round with 1-2, as three other teams stayed winless with 0-3. Turkey did not however pay too much attention to the stats and went on a lead from the first minutes. Takmaz's three gave Turkey 8 points as they stayed in front with 26:18. Egle Siksniute (193-F-91)'s jump shot reduced to 6 points in the end of the first. In the second quarter Lithuania made a 7-0 run to take 27:26 lead, but Turkey finished the half at 41:36.

Five points were maximum for any team with 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter till the end of the game. At first Lithuania were on top with 46:42 in the third, but then Turkey had 60:55 with 7 minutes remaining. Lithuania dominated in the end and won the first game in the Classification Round and the second in the tournament.
Gintare Mazionyte (185-C-91) led the winners with 23 points. Diana Zintikaite (163-G-91) ended up with 19, while Egle Siksniute added 12. Safiye Karaman (180-F-91) top-scored with 25 points in the losing effort.
There will be no games tomorrow in the Classification Round. On Thursday Turkey will meet Slovakia and Lithuania will face Greece.


Lithuania U16: Gintare Mazionyte 23, Diana Zintikaite 19, Egle Siksniute 12
Turkey U16: Safiye Karaman 25, Dilara Tongar (168-G-91) 14+10 rebs+6 ast

   Division A: The best players so far - Jul. 30, 2007
As the Preliminary Round in the Division A of U16 European Championship is over, Eurobasket introduces the best players so far in three categories. Today is the day-off in the Championship, but it is not the day-off for the correspondents and especially for the readers.

Ukrainian Olesya Malashenko (188-F-91) leads the top-scorers in the Championship. She stays on top with 21.7 points per game. In the first game against Russia Olesya Malashenko ended up with 18 points in a loss for her team. The best game so far she showed over Greece nailing 26 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. In the last game over France Olesya Malashenko posted 20 points.
Sabine Niedola (182-F-91) from Latvia averages with 21.3 points per game. Maryia Filonchyk (187-F-92) from Belarus is third in the list with 21.0 points per game.

After 22 rebounds in the game over Greece Latvian Sabine Niedola leads the rebounding category. She averages 18.7 rebounds per game. Sara Krnjic (194-C-91) and Amanda Bazoukou (189-C-93) are second with 14.0 per game.

Spanish Leonor Rodriguez (177-G-91) is the first in the assists stats. A great game by her team lifts her with 5.3 assists per game. She made 6 assists in the games over Turkey and Latvia and had 4 against Belgium. Cleopatra Forsman (165-G-91) is second with 4.3 per game and Sintija Grinerte (173-G-91) from Latvia has 4.0 assists per game.

   Division B: The end of the Preliminary Round - Jul. 30, 2007 
Italy maintained their perfect record to finish top in Group A and take maximum points into the qualifying round after a routine if not spectacular victory against Finland (67-54). Slovenia finished in second place with a mixed performance victory against Montenegro (63-41) with Nika Baric (166-G-92) leading the scoring with 15 points.

In Group B Croatia bounced back from their defeat against Bosnia in overcoming a resilient Portuguese side (73-60). Croatia's head coach was very happy with the performance and hopes that they will continue to play in the same way.

Group C's big match between England and Netherlands lived up to its billing with Netherlands coming out on top (55-53) with Rosanne Guijt 4-of-5 from beyond the arc with 18 points leading all scores in the match.

Rosanne explained after the match that she likes "to play against England and that I wanted to avenge the defeat of last year.

Ireland beat Bulgaria (76-60) to move into the qualifying round.

Germany beat group D rival Israel (61-57) thanks to a first quarter blitz (18-5). Israel spend the whole game chasing after the game but never managed to go in front. Bar Galinski finished with a double -double 25 points and 10 rebound in a losing cause while Julia Gaudermannn top scored for Germany with 13 points.


Comments Comments:

Joe Shields, Ireland: it was good we have adapted to the climate and I think that we have adapted to the conditions and also you know the girls did not really perform very well in the first game against England, I know that England are quite good. We have improved in the last couple of games and today's result was achieved with combination of hard work and effort and the Irish spirit."

Rui Gomis, Portugal: I have mixed feeling, first I am happy because this is the first time at U16 that my country has played such a close game against Croatia and the feeling is that with a little bit more cleverness and experience we could do better than Croatia.

We did not score many 3-points today and we could not stop their transition game that is very good. We noticed that Bosnia had problems with Croatia transition game and we worked on it but our players did not understand it but I am still happy with the girls as they did not give up and fought all through the game. We have to improve in one area for the next round, we are not boxing out enough and losing points on rebounds which makes a difference, otherwise we are okay.

Yvonne Lansink, Holland: I thought the referees were a bit one-sided at the beginning and told the girls at the break to step up and stay more physical and see what the refs would do, they did this and the calls evened out. We played as a team and I can play with 12 players and that is a big advantage. And it does not matter who is standing up, it is such a great team, we have won our 3 games and that is such a great achievement for Holland.

For more information go to www.wbbuzz.com/News/FIBA/U16-European-Championship/

   Division A: The end of the Preliminary Round - Jul. 29, 2007 
The Preliminary Round in the Division A of U16 European Championship went to the end. Three teams from each group advanced to the Qualifying Round, while the last teams from the groups will make the Classifiction Round.

In Group A one team finished undefeated, the Czech Republic. The team finished with a perfect 3-0 record after beating Hungary 63:50. Adela Filarova (171-G-91) and Gabriela Medunova top-scored for the winners with 14 points. Melinda Kesoi brought 16 points for Hungary that ended up second with 2-1. The third team to advance to the Qualifying Round was Belarus that outscored Slovakia 75:65 for their first victory of the tournament. Maryia Filonchyk (187-F-92) led all players with 32 points and 15 rebounds. Martina Kissova scored 10 points and made 10 rebounds for Slovakia that will play in the Classification Round.

No teams could stay unbeaten in Group B as Lithuania beat Serbia 70:67. Unfortunately for the victory team even the win left them in the last spot. Diana Zintikaite (163-G-91) top-scored for the winners with 17 points, Radvile Autukaite (175-G-91) scored 15. Serbia were paced by Sara Krnjic (194-C-91), who had 20 points and 11 rebounds. Sweden overcame Poland 63:55 to secure a spot in the Qualification Round with a 2-1 record. Goga led Sweden with 20 points, while Amanda Bazoukou (189-C-93) collected 14 points and 17 rebounds.

Spain won Group C with 3-0 record after betaing Belgium 68:60 in the last game of the Preliminary Round. Leonor Rodriguez top-scored with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Jana Raman (183-F-91) was the best for Belgium with 14 points. Latvia secured a second place rolling over Turkey 85:75 and leaving them out of the Top 12. Ilze Gotfrida (180-F-91) and Sabine Niedola (182-F-91) paced the winners with 23 points. The latter by the way grabbed also 22 rebounds and made 5 assists.

In Group D France stayed on top with 3-0 after demolishing Ukraine 101:70. Chloe Westelynck (188-F-91) poured in 20 points for France. Olesya Malashenko (188-F-91) had the same number of points for Ukraine. Russia beat Greece 75:57 and took a second place with 2-1.

   Division B: Italy win again, England and Holland book ticket for qualifying rounds - Jul. 29, 2007 
Italy was pushed hard by Slovenia in the first period today before distancing Slovenia to win comfortably (83-50) with Irene Pieropan leading the scoring with 17 points. This victory confirms Marco Rota's team qualification for the qualifying round. He made the following comments after the game: "It was a tough game because we had an easy game yesterday and as a result we were a little bit lost in the beginning. We took time to find the right person to finish off some our plays and we had a little bit of luck in the beginning but in the end I think we played the right defence which proved to be the difference between the two teams."

He also went on to explain about Italy's ambitions for the rest of the competition: "As for the rest of the competition we want to win against Finland tomorrow so that we start the qualifying round with maximum points as our objective is promotion to Div A and winning the tournament. But before then we have to keep our feet on the ground and take it day by day so tomorrow we focus on Finland and then we will see."
In the other match in group A Montenegro surprised Finland at the beginning of the match and held a slim lead for the first fifteen minutes before Finland took control of the match to win comfortably (80-40)
In group B Bosnia beat Croatia (73-49) to win the group. Croatia lost their way in the second period allowing their opponents to go in front and never really recovered. Anesa Hamsic finished with a double-double 24 points and 12 rebounds for the winners. According to Savic Jadranka "the result was flattering for us because we were under pressure all the time but we coped so I think we deserved the victory".

In group C England beat Bulgaria (69-46) on the top of a strong second half defensive performance restricting Bulgaria to 13 points. Karen Burton, England's head coach, had this to say about her team's performance in the first half: "They like to give me a heart attack, they played nervously." In the other match Netherlands held on in the end to beat Ireland (54-52). England and Netherlands have booked their ticket for the qualifying round and will meet each other to determine the group winner on Sunday.

In the only match in group D Germany outclassed Romania (95-28), a win that pleased Alexandra Maerz as she went on to explain: "I think we were pretty well focused for this game and it went pretty well and we dealt well with the fact that we did not play yesterday."

   Division B: News as it happens on day one - Jul. 27, 2007 

Maria Correia 28 points

Bosnia - Portugal

Bosnia beat Portugal in overtime with Matea Tavic scoring 31 of her team's points to win the first match of the competition. Maria Correia scored 28 points for Portugal but this was not enough as they fell short by 2 in a highly entertaining game despite the high temperature. Both coaches were happy with the way the match was played, and are looking forward to the rest of the tournament. Final score was Bosnia 64 - Portugal 62.

   Division B: 14 teams are ready to go - Jul. 27, 2007 
Yesterday evening the European championship Division B U16 women was officially declared open by some officials in Chieti, Italy, and tips off this afternoon with only 14 teams instead of initially 16, due to the withdrawal of Armenia and Moldovia. The host, Italy, are also considered to be the favourites after their impressive form during the preparation matches with notable victories against Div A teams.

The format of this competition stays unchanged with a slight variation for the 13^th and 14^th placed teams whose final position will be decided on the aggregate score over two legs. All the matches will be played in two halls in Chieti.