| 13.07.2008
Spain overcame a spirited effort by Belarus to win 70-58 and remain undefeated in Group D of the U20 European Championship for Women while Latvia once again were led by Sabine Niedola in a 57-50 victory over Greece.
Georgina Bahi scored 15 points and Jael Freixanet and Noelia Oliva both added 11 points for Spain, which came back from a 12-point first quarter deficit by forcing Belarus into 25 turnovers and holding them to just 35 percent shooting from inside the three-point stripe.
Tatsiana Likhtarovich and Volha Vashkevich both hit for 13 points and Natallia Kozun had 11 for Belarus, which advanced to the Qualifying Round with a 2-1 record in Group D.
 | | Jael Freixanet was one of Spain's offensive weapons against Belarus |
Belarus came out in top form, scoring the first seven points of the game and opening a 23-10 lead after eight minutes. And the advantage was 25-12 for Belarus before Semen Khalipski's team succumbed to the Spanish pressure.
Spain forced six Belarus turnovers in going on an 18-0 run spanning the first and second quarters and the surge was 23-2 by the time Jordi Fernandez's side had opened a 35-27 gap. But Belarus answered with an 8-1 run of their own to trail just 39-38 at the break.
The lead switched hands before Kozun's jumper completed an 11-0 run for a 51-41 Belarus lead. But Oliva drained a three-pointer and two Bahi baskets made it 51-48 after three periods.
Freixant's triple evened the game at 51-51 and a long-ball by Carla Agullo gave Spain a 58-53 lead before Belarus's Sviatlana Valko was charged with an unsportsmanlike foul, which Spain used to build a 62-55 cushion with four minutes to play.
Alena Novikava followed with a three-ball to trim the deficit to four points only to see Spain score the final eight points for the victory.
Latvia Claim Last Spot In Group B
Latvia meanwhile improved to 2-1 in Group B in Chieti with a 57-50 comeback win over Greece, thanks in large part to Sabine Niedola's 22 points, 14 rebounds and six steals.
The 17-year-old talent was the only Latvian to score in double figures though Signe Langenfelde tallied nine points.
Greece, who dropped to 0-3 and will play to stay in Division A, were paced by 16 points from Anna Spyridopoulou and 11 from Ioanna Diela.
The first quarter saw neither team able to forge ahead with three points being the largest margin on either side in a 15-15 first quarter.
With the game even at 17-17, the Latvians went scoreless for nearly six minutes and turned the ball over four times in watching Greece pull off a 12-0 run to lead 29-17. Kristine Vitola ended the surge with a three-pointer and then Niedola took over, grabbing two steals en route to 11 straight points in a 14-2 spurt to knot the game at 31-31 going into the break.
The Latvian defence stepped up at the start of the second half, holding Greece without a basket for nearly six minutes until Dimitra Tsiaousi's jumper made it 36-34. And Tsiaousi evened the game at 36-36 only to see Langenfelde knock down a three-pointer and two foul shots in a 9-1 run for a 45-37 going into the fourth.
Liene Neimane's trey opened the final period and an 11-point margin, which Greece trimmed to 50-46 after a three-ball and lay-up by Spyridopoulou. Niedola hit again for 53-46 but the Greeks would not go away as Angeliki Nikolopoulou's jumper made it 53-50 with less than two minutes to play.
But Langenfelde made four foul shots down the stretch and Greece could not hit the final shot they needed.
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