Spain and France have qualified for the semi-finals of the European Women’s Basketball Championship, which is being held in Slovenia and Israel.
The French team, which won silver medals at the last five continental championships, defeated Montenegro by 89-46 (23-9, 21-17, 21-11, 24-9).
Marieme Badiane was the most valuable player for France with 20 pts, 7 rebs, and 1 ast, while Sandrine Gruda and Marine Fauthoux added 18 and 15 pts, respectively. Bojana Kovacevic finished the match with 9 pts and 3 rebs for the Montenegrin team.
In the last quarter-final, the four-time European champion Spain convincingly defeated Germany by 67-42 (20-7, 13-9, 20-13, 14-13) and broke the series of three consecutive successes of the opponent.
Laura Gil had a double-double of 13 pts and 11 rebs for the winners, and Laura Quevedo finished with 11 pts. Sonja Greinacher scored 9 pts for the Germans.
Earlier in the day, Hungary defeated Czech Republic by 62-61 (7-11, 22-11, 19-17, 14-22), whle Belgium defeated Serbia with 93-53 (28-8, 21-23, 22-14, 22-8).
In the semi-finals on June 24, Spain will face Hungary, and France will play versus Belgium. The four teams secured a spot at next year’s FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The four teams that lost in the quarter-finals will fight for two more places, which they can win after the matches for 5-8 place in the championship.
