SKOPJE (FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2017, Division B) - There could have hardly been a better start of the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2017, Division B in Skopje for Belgium, who started their campaign with a king-sized victory over Moldova.

Dominant right from the get-go, the Belgian girls thumped their Moldovan counterparts 132-13 to get the action underway in Group B, allowing just a single point in the second half of play after turning up the heat defensively following intermission.

Emma Bell collected a game-high 26 points and 5 rebounds, Sam Van Buggenhout added 21 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists, while Milena Chiruta surprisingly got into double figures for Moldova with 10 points, but also committed 10 turnovers.

Slovenia lined up next in the standings after a 70-50 win over Ireland, while the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia could not get off the mark with a winning start in front of the home fans, falling to a 58-40 defeat against Ukraine.

Estonia and Finland enjoyed winning starts in Group A, one of the two five-team groups, downing Norway and Bulgaria respectively, while Portugal will join the action a day later after staying idle on Thursday.

Paced by a near triple-double performance of Awak Kuier, who had 25 points, 20 rebounds and 9 blocks, the Finnish side hammered their Bulgarian opponents 87-41, while Estonia registered a more moderate 63-34 win over Norway with Anna Gret Asi leading the way with a game-high 20 points.

Meanwhile in Group C, also consisting of five teams, Luxembourg enjoyed a positive start with a 56-49 victory over Iceland after getting the big breakthrough by winning the third quarter with a 20-11 partial score.

Sofie Olsen had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the winners, while Tanja De Rond had an inverse double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds. For Iceland, Asta Grimsdottir collected 19 points and 22 rebounds.

Greece also waited until the third quarter, during which they allowed just a couple of points while scoring 17 themselves, to break away against Israel en route to a 60-47 victory, with Ioanna Chatzileonti collecting 21 points and 9 rebounds. It will be against the defeated Israeli side that the remaining team in the group, Sweden, will open their tournament on Friday evening.

Switzerland were the big winners in Group D, breaking the century mark in their 102-41 win against Albania, with Charlotte Kohler netting a game-high 18 points, Ymke Brouwer collecting 16 points and Yelena Luap chipping in with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.

Bosnia and Herzegovina also showed little mercy against the Slovak Republic, defeating their opening-day rivals with a 91-51 scoreline, while Denmark got the better of Great Britain 67-53 after building a safe cushion in the first half of play.

FIBA