Latvia Knock France out

Latvia always appeared to be in control of this game and a 9:0 run in the final period proved to be the decisive moment in a game that went down to the last seconds. Gunta Basko may have finished as top scoring but this was a true team performance that has put them into the semi-final and place in the Olympic qualifying tournament.


Latvia adopted a zone defence from the start but it was France through Edwige Lawson-Wade after a patient build up around the perimeter scored the first points she drove in to the paint and hit a jump shot. Latvia replied on their first attack through Anete Jekabsone-Zogota , who shortly after pulled up after touching her hamstring and left the field for a short while. Audrey Sauret Gillespie on her 200th appearance scored with her first shot of the game followed by Sandra Dijon mid-distance jumper and with that France appeared to be in control leading (6-2). Ainars Zvirgzdins called an early time-out and changed the defensive system. Gunta Basko came into play and ran cycles round the French defence and then pulled a jumper over her club team mate Sandra Dijon. This moved inspired her team-mates and with the return of Jacobson-Zagota, Latvia went on a 7:0 run to lead at the end of the first period (13-10).


Clemence Beikes made her entry into the match and made her presence felt as she fed Isabelle Yacoubou for a simple jump shot. France still have problems beyond the arc but had no problems with mid-range shots and eventually tied the game (16-16) with a Edwige Lawson-Wade jump shop. Latvia have a simple but very efficient switch play around the arc and they employed it to good effect to give Ieva Tare all the time in the world to stroke a perfect three (19-16) for Latvia to go back into the lead, for what turned out to be for good. Then after this good sequence of play, the game became rather scrappy and it remained scoreless for almost 4 minutes with the only incident a fourth personal foul for Zane Eglite. Seeing the expression on the Latvian head coach times is enough to scare anybody and not for the first time in thie competition Latvia stepped up with some clutch 3-point shooting this time by Liene Jansone, who nailed two either side of a Gunta Basko jump shot as they went on a 9:2 flourish to go into the locker room with a comfortable lead (28-18).

Latvia scored the first two points of the 3rd period before what has become a rarity in this tournament, a 3-point score from France. Clemence Beikes scored this shot (on the 18th attempt by France in the last two games until this point in the game). This shot appeared to give Sandrine Gruda some inspiration as she started to throw her weight about for France. Latvia maintained their advantage as France having to chase the game expoed themselves to counters, allowing Latvia to maintain a handsome lead (36-27) after 15 minutes of play. Having not much luck on the inside, France went for perimeter shooting and Sandra Le Drean hit a second trey for France. The intensity picked up and bodies began to fly all around the floor but the most serious incident occurred when Gunta Basko and Sandrine Gruda collided in mid air going for a rebound under the French basket. Gruda was called for the foul and was immediately taken out of the game for a rest while Gunta Basko left the game to receive some treatment. Ieva Tare kept the Latvia momentum going with some solid work in the paint for her side while Isabelle Yacoubou continued to throw her body about under the offensive board for France and win free throws (41-36). Just when it appeared that France would get close , they dropped their defensive guard allowing Anete Jekabsone-Zogota to get free and the sentence was immediate another trey. France finished the quarter on a high with a pair of free throws from Emilie Gomis and jump shot from Sandra Le Drean , which left Latvia with a 4-point lead going into the final period.

Basko capped off a 9:0 run by Latvia with a three-ball (53-40) that appeared to have killed France off, but Audrey Sauret Gillespie had other ideas and hit a couple of treys as France started a late charge and reduced the deficit (62-55) with just a little of two minutes remaining. Neither team was able to score until the game was well into the last minute. Edwige Lawson-Wade made a pair of from the charity stripes as the game headed to its I have to foul you to stop the game clock stage. In turn she then fouled Basko who also kept a cool nerve at the stripes. On the next play Dumerc hit France's sixth trey of the night (64-60). Basko then missed her next set of free throws giving a chance for France to come right back, Celine Dumerc again was decisive as she managed to draw a foul while attempting another 3-point shot. She managed to hit 2-of-3 shots from the foul line to set up an exciting final few seconds. Anete Jekabsone-Zogota made no mistake with her free throws (66-62). France had less than 10 seconds left to find a solution and both Dumerc and Lawson-Wade tried to hit from the land of many and draw a foul at the same time to no avail.

Basko (17 pts) was one of 4 players in double digits for Latvia Janson (14), Jekabsone-Zogota (12) and Tamane (12).

Audrey Sauret Gillespie scored 10 points and dished out 6 assists and Sandrine Gruda with 14 points led the French scoring.