ANDORRA LA VELLA (Andorra) - Albania and hosts Andorra have advanced to the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U18 Women's European Championship, Division C, joining Malta and Georgia who were already qualified.

In the first of the Qualification Games for the Semi-Finals on Friday, Albania picked up a wire-to-wire victory over Gibraltar, 63-40.

After leading by eight points at halftime, Albania opened the game up and outscored Gibraltar 23-9 in the third quarter, never looking back after that.

The tournament's current leading scorer Brikena Mucenji recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds along with 5 steals, while Anisa Bokrina led all scorers in the game with 21 points along with 7 rebounds and 2 assists.

These two standout players led the way for Albania, who will now face Georgia in the Semi-Finals on Saturday.

Andorra will face off against Malta in the other Semi-Final on Saturday thanks to their 56-52 win over Moldova. This Semi-Final will be a rematch, as Malta won the first meeting in group play, 72-41.

There was hardly any separation between Andorra and Moldova through three quarters, as Andorra held a slight five-point edge heading to the fourth.

Moldova got to within one point with just under a minute left in the game, but a clutch three-pointer from Andrea Cobo (13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals) with 47 seconds left sealed the game for Andorra.

Andrea Cobo (left)

Moldova had a huge 74-43 advantage in rebounds, but 41 turnovers proved to be too much to overcome in the end. Iulia Slavioglo (29 rebounds) and Valeria Buzadji (20 rebounds) combined to grab 49 rebounds, more than Andorra as a team.

The two losers from these Qualification Games for the Semi-Finals, Gibraltar and Moldova, will play each other in the 5-6 classification game on Sunday.

FIBA