20.06.2011

Latvia Punch Round 2 Ticket

Turning Point: Latvia trailed 53-38 midway through the third quarter but scored 13 unanswered points as part of a 29-8 run to win 67-61.

Game Hero: Latvia center Zane Tamane contributed with 14 points and hauled down nine rebounds. She also came up with one blocked shot and one steal.

Stats Don't Lie: Latvia were two-for-22 (9%) from behind the arc while Croatia finished two-for-11 (18%). Latvia out-rebounded Croatia, 41-32.

Latvia are taking their fans on another wild ride at a EuroBasket Women.

Behind by 15 points against Croatia midway through the second half on Monday afternoon, George Dikeoulakos' team hit back for a 67-61 victory to clinch a top-three finish in Group C and book a place in the next round.

After beginning the tournament with a loss to Greece, the Latvians have beaten defending champions France in overtime and now shocked Croatia with a memorable comeback.

Veterans Gunta Basko, Zane Tamane and Liene Jansone led the way.

Basko had a game-high 16 points while Tamane and Jansone contributed 14 apiece.

Tamane also corralled nine rebounds.

Defeat for Croatia did not rule them out of the next round because if France beat Greece later on Monday, the Croatians would finish third.

Should France win against Greece, Latvia would finish first in Group C.

Croatia appear to have lost veteran forward Ana Lelas for the remainder of the tournament.

She looked to have suffered a chest or shoulder injury while going for a steal and ended up playing just 10 minutes.

Croatia will be kicking themselves after this setback because with 5:25 to go in the third quarter, everything was clicking for them.

Mirna Mazic drilled a jump shot to take the lead to 53-38.

With 4:21 left in the frame, Basko sparked her team by drilling her second three-pointer of the game and the energetic Kristine Karklina followed with a jumper.

Croatia didn't help their cause by taking and missing quick three-pointers because the Latvians collected the rebounds, got into fastbreak mode and began to score easily.

Basko drew a foul from big center Luca Ivankovic and made both free-throws on one trip down the floor and Liene Jansone added a pair from the line on another.

Sabine Niedola, Latvia's 20-year-old, then came up with a steal and passed ahead to Elina Babkina who scored on a fastbreak to close the gap to 53-51.

Antonija Misura hit a free-throw line jumper to take the lead to 55-51 at the beginning of the fourth but Latvia were not to be denied.

Babkina and Niedola had lay-ups to pull Latvia level.

An Ivankovic three-point play took the lead back to three, only for Latvia's Niedola to score and then Tamane to make one of two free-throws to tie the game at 58-58.

After another wayward three-ball from Sandra Mandir, Latvia went in front to stay.

They got the ball to Jansone and she made a lay-up for a 60-58 advantage.

Basko added a lay-up and though Croatia's Misura hit a free-throw line jumper, the Latvians kept their noses in front.

Tamane's three free-throws and another shot from Jansone helped them pull away.

Babkina, who had 26 points in the overtime win against France, finished with 12 points.

Latvia out-rebounded Croatia 41-32.

Latvian made a stunning run to the Semi-Finals of the EuroBasket Women 2007 in Chieti and also gave their fans a lot of thrills when hosting the event in 2009.

The latest edition is proving to be just as exciting.

 

20.06.2011

Quotes Croatia vs. Latvia

Latvia Head Coach George Dikeoulakos:
"It took a big effort from my team to win this game. Croatia is not an easy team. We thought we controlled the first quarter but in the second quarter our level went down. We fought hard after the break. We gave them problems with our zone defense and controlled the rebounds."

Latvia Center Zane Tamane:
"The coach gave a great speech at half-time telling us that we had to play hard and show heart. We then went out and fought for every ball and even when we were down, we still kept fighting and never gave up."

Croatia Head Coach Stipe Bralic:
"We played a good game for the first 30 minutes. Losing Ana Lelas, our best player, to injury, put us in big trouble. In the second half we played very bad defense. Latvia were very strong in the paint in the final quarter and we could not stop them."

Croatia Player Mirna Mazic:
"We played a great first half, controlling the boards and playing good defense. But everything changed after the break. We gave Latvia a lot of second-chance points and they pressed and got easy baskets. They started to gain confidence and everything went in their favour. Now we hope that France beat Greece to go through to the next round."