Greeks Down Latvia In Opener

Turning Point: With Latvia leading 53-52, Greece outscored their opponents 15-4 over the final six minutes of the game.

Game Hero: Greek guard Dimitra Kalentzou had a game-high 20 points, on six-for-14 shooting. She also dished out three assists and came up with three steals.

Stats Don't Lie: Latvia turned the ball over 20 times while Greece gave it away 11.
Greece got 21 points off those turnovers.

Dimitra Kalentzou spent one of the greatest years of her life with Sony Athinaikos helping raise the coaching profile of George Dikeoulakos.

On Saturday, the veteran Greece point guard greatly contributed to his Latvia team's downfall in a 67-57 victory for the Greeks in the opening game of EuroBasket Women Group D.

The playmaker on the Dikeoulakos-coached Sony Athinaikos team that won a Greek Cup, EuroCup Women and domestic league treble in the 2009-10 campaign, Kalentzou led all scorers on Saturday with 20 points.

She hit a huge three-ball to make it 61-55 with 2:29 to go.

Greece punished the Latvians for their 20 turnovers, scoring 21 points off them.

Latvia, who had a 44-35 edge in the rebounds, let two vital ones slip away late in the game.

After Kristina Karklina came out of a Latvia timeout following the Kalentzou trey and scored on a drive to the basket to cut the deficit to four, the Baltic side twice failed to corral misses by the Greeks and it killed their chances of a comeback.

The first rebound to slip away came after Greece ran the 24-second shot clock down and Styliani Kaltsidou was off target from the arc.

Evina Maltsi, who had 17 points and 12 boards, chased the ball down and passed to Kalentzou who drew a foul.

The playmaker made the first free-throw and missed the second, only for Kaltsidou to grab the offensive board.

That led to a pair of Maltsi free-throws shortly after with 38 seconds to play and a 64-57 Greek lead.

Greece kept their noses in front the rest of the way and celebrated an important victory.

Latvia had appeared to have something special in store for the fans in Katowice when they had a stirring comeback at the end of the first half.

Trailing by eight, Gunta Basko hit three consecutive three-pointers to give her team 36-35 advantage.

Basko, the captain, had a game-high 12 points at the break but failed to score in the last two quarters.

Elina Babkina gave Latvia their last lead of the game with a three-point play 6:15 from the end.

Greece had an answer.

Pelagia Papamichail scored down low and then Maltsi connected from long range and the Greeks were on top to stay.

Babkina and Zane Tamane also had 12 points apiece.

Tamane finished with a game-high 13 rebounds.

Quotes Greece vs. Latvia

Gree Point Guard Dimitra Kalentzou:
"We just had to block out the fact that (former Greece assistant) George Dikeoulakos is the coach of Latvia and we did a good job on that. It is important to remember that this victory is only the first step. As far as my performance, the coach just told me to look for my shot and I did."

Latvia Center Liene Jansone:
"We were nervous as it was our first game. It was tough but we knew that this would be the case against them. I thought Greece shot very well throughout the game and they capitalised on our mistakes. We now have to forget about this defeat and concentrate on our next game."

Greece Head Coach Kostas Missas:
"It was a very hard game. Latvia is a very good team, they have a very strong front line. We played very smart, using all kinds of different defenses. We could not control the tall players of Latvia so we tried to play fast and made the most of Latvia´s turnovers. This is a very important win for us."

Latvia Head Coach George Dikeoulakos:
"We know Greece is one of the toughest teams in Europe. Throughout the game we tried to find a solution to our offense. We lost the game because of our inexperience. We have many young players and we have to improve on many areas of our play. But this just the first game and we hope we will find better solutions than we did today."