Lithuania hoping to stay on the right track with youth injection
KAUNAS (FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2017) - Lithuania will have a tough act to follow in the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2017 after securing a solid sixth-place finish in Italy last year.
The Baltic side have already begun their preparations in Palanga under their new head coach Tadas Stankevicius, who has mixed a number of younger players into the 17-player squad headlined by the returning trio of Saule Kaupyte, Brigita Sinickaite and Dovile Jankauskaite.
| Lithuania's 17-player squad ahead of FIBA U16 Women's European Championship | ||||
| Urte Cizauskaite | Agnese Garcinskaite | Emilija Grigaliunaite | Seila Gudinskaite | Dovile Jankauskaite |
| Saule Kaupyte | Vestina Keburyte | Rebeka Kinkeviciute | Justina Miknaite | Evelina Milasiute |
| Elze Moteikaityte | Dominyka Paliulyte | Gedvile Savostaite | Brigita Sinickaite | Ausra Verseckaite |
| Simona Visockaite | Audrone Zdaneviciute | |||
Kaupyte was among the top minute-getters on the team and drew a number of starts, averaging solid across-the-board numbers of 5.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, while the sharp-shooting Sinickaite was often one of the first players off the bench.
The rest of the team will be particularly young, with eight 2001-born players making up less than half of Lithuania's squad. The remaining slots have been filled by 2002-born players and a couple born in 2003.
"Most of the girls are a year or even two younger. They started practicing and playing with U15 over a month ago, so they're all in good shape, which puts us in a solid starting position," said coach Stankevicius.
During the course of their preparations, Lithuania will play two test games against Belarus before hosting the Baltic Cup in Kaunas and then heading out to the European Youth Olympics Festival in Hungary.
"We will play against challenging opponents, most of whom will also play in France as well. It will offer us a good indication of how good we actually are and what we can expect from the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship," the head coach planned ahead.
Lithuania will begin their campaign in Bourges on August 4 against Group A rivals Spain before facing off against Russia and Poland later in that order at the Palais des Sports du Prado.
FIBA
