14.08.2010

Croatia Back In Contention

Croatia are right back in the mix in the EuroBasket Women Qualifying Round Group A after claiming a vital 85-70 win against Belgium in Gospic to get back to winning ways.

Having opened up with a memorable victory in Italy, successive losses had briefly taken the wind out of their charge towards qualification but they now have everything to play for.

Ana Lelas was once again the heartbeat of Croatia and therefore instrumental in the success with another action-packed and yet still highly efficient performance. She scored 14 points, pulled down eight rebounds and dished off five assists to inspire her team.

There was nothing to separate both teams during the early exchanges and the home team sneaked in front at 23-21 after the first quarter.

Croatia then asserted themselves at the start of the second and quickly established a double-digit lead at 33-23 when Neda Lokas drained a triple. Belgium briefly responded but still found themselves down by eight heading into the second half.

At 54-44 midway through the third, Croatia then found another 9-3 run and that proved important as they opened up a 16 point margin - something that was always likely to be too much for the visitors and so it proved.

Iva Sliskovic harvested 18 points and 7 rebounds while Sandra Mandir contributed 17 points and six rebounds.

Ann Wauters was the class act for Belgium with a typically impressive 21 points and nine rebounds.

 

15.08.2010

Quotes Croatia vs. Belgium

Croatia coach Stipe Bralic:
"Finnaly we played a good game in this qualification. But I expected that in this town [Gospic] where they really loves this game. We had the right approach from the start of the game and which we didn't possess until this game. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate my players for their win."

Croatia player Anda Jelavic:
"I am very pleased with our game. We had prepaed well for this match. From the beginning we were very focused on Ann Wauters. She still scored the most point but in the end it is important that we won. We hope that this game starts a series of positive results in the upcoming matches."

Belgium player Ann Wauters:
"We're disappointed with the result of the game. For the second time we lost a game on the road following bad defence. We must play more aggressively if we want to succeed. The next game in Italy will be crucial now."

Belgium coach Arvid Diels:
"It's a bad result for us. Not only the loss but also the goal average will be relevant in this group, where the different teams are very close to each other. We will talk with the players and focus from now on the game in Cagliari."