by Paul Nilsen

The most excitement of day three in Tallinn came as Switzerland suffered a fourth quarter lockdown to lose to Israel. Having led 46-37, they managed just four points in the period and were edged out 52-50 despite 16 points and 13 rebounds by Dana Bozovic.

The Swiss problem was clear for everyone to see with a staggering 50 turnovers which cost them the game. For Israel Aviv Casspi scored a game high 17 points.

In the same group, Latvia beat neighbours Estonia in comprehensive fashion via a 99-46 rout with Agate Geka scoring 19 points and team-mate Guna Lagzdina adding 13 boards to her 17 points. Estonia already trailed by double figures at the half, when a 27-4 third quarter put any hopes of a revival to the sword.

Bulgaria were resigned to their third straight loss of the tournament by Luxembourg who won the battle of the winless teams to secure a 43-36 success. In a game with defences on top and witnessing some poor shooting, Bulgaria went down despite 15 points from Ani Le Fan while Lena Hetto and Jana Putz combined for 18 points for Luxembourg.

In another battle, this time of two unbeaten teams, it was Denmark that inflicted a first loss on Slovenia as they secured a 51-39 victory with 14 points from Elisabeth Hansen doing the damage.

In Group D, England may have cruised to a 68-41 success against Ukraine in their opening fixture but were given a taste of their own medicine by Portugal as they crashed in spectacular fashion, going down 50-23. They managed just 3 points in the opening quarter and Rosie Hynes top scoring with a meagre five points told a story although Cheridine Green did pull down 10 rebounds. For the Portugal team, Caterina Neves top scored with 13 points landing four triples while Paula Couto and Ines Pinto both reached double figures on the boards.

Netherlands gave Ukraine another hammering as they strolled to an 89-49 success and secured their unbeaten record in the process. Maxime Essenstam with 24 points and 6 steals leading by example while Sharon Lammerink did some fine work on the glass with 13 rebounds. Ukraine were undone by a poor first period when they were outscored 25-9 although Miriam Uro-Nile did produce a fine line of 11 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots.

In Group A, Austria came from behind in the final quarter to see off Ireland with an exciting 65-63 win thanks to 21 points from Julia Pocksteiner. Ireland looked to be in control going into the last ten minutes but couldn't pick up a first win despite another strong performance from Rheanne O'Shea who scored 17 points.

Also in the same group, Montenegro suffered another 30 point blow out, this time at the hands of the impressive Slovak Republic who sit top of the standings and unbeaten with three wins. Angelika Slamova secured a game high 18 points while Sabina Oroszova secured a classy double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Guard Jelena Vucetic managed 16 points for the losing team.