Malta wins Group A in Ohrid

Rebecca Thoresen

MALTA - AZERBAIJAN 80-70

Malta is the winner of Preliminary Group A in Ohrid. They handed 80-70 loss to Azerbaijan to end this phase with perfect 3-0 record. Of course, Malta advanced to the Semifinals, where their rival will be Austria. Azerbaijan ended as third ranked team in this group with 1-2 record and will continue in classification games from 5-8 place. Their first rival is Gibraltar. Rebecca Thoresen (178-F/G-78) had 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners. Ashleigh Vella (188-F/C-90) also had amazing game 17 pts, 14 rebs and 6 assists, while Beverly Zammit (178-SG-87) helped with 12 points. Azerbaijan got 21 points and 5 boards from Tatyana Deniskina (173-SG-85). Dina Ulyanova (185-SF-89) followed with 17 pts and 14 rebs, and Anastasiya Biryuchkova (170-G-90) scored 13 points. Malta was 17-points up at the halftime and jumped to plus 20 with ten minutes to go. Azerbaijan drastically improved in the last quarter, but it was too late for them.

Malta: Rebecca Thoresen 20+5 boards+5 as, Ashleigh Vella 17+14 boards+6 as, Beverly Zammit 12
Azerbaijan: Tatyana Deniskina 21+5 boards, Dina Ulyanova 17+14 boards, Anastasiya Biryuchkova 13