AMSTERDAM (EuroBasket Women 2017) - Already a key cog in the French wheel over the last six years, the influence of Endene Miyem remains on an upward trajectory after anchoring the Rio hopefuls' latest win in the EuroBasket Women 2017 qualifiers.

Without Sandrine Gruda, the forward has picked up the slack in impressive fashion, firing a smart 16 points and eight rebounds to help France overcome Netherlands, 72-56, in what had looked a potentially tricky road test on paper.

Miyem had also led the way last weekend against Estonia, underlining her value - something which has also been flagged up at club level, through the prism of powerhouse side Tango Bourges who lost her to Dynamo Kursk and are now struggling.

The other headline from Amsterdam was that France play-caller Valerie Garnier ushered in another member of the new generation - handing 20-year-old Marine Johannes a competitive debut and she responded in the best possible way with a memorable 15-point haul.

Both Spain and Turkey also took a stride towards making it to Final Round in 2017, with the former blasting their way to an 86-45 home success against Finland thanks again to the work of Sancho Lyttle who dropped 18 points.

Turkey also made it two wins in as many games, after Lara Sanders provided the muscle under the hoop with an 18-point contribution as they coasted to a 79-50 success in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Slovenia made everybody sit up and take notice as they claimed their first victory with an eye-catching 73-64 win in Lithuania. Maja Erkic and Teja Oblak combined for 35 points to heap more pressure on their winless opponents, who slumped to 0-2 after suffering once again from far too many turnovers.

There were phenomenal efforts under the hoop from Emma Meesseman and Anastasiya Verameyenka as Belgium touched down in Minsk, but it was Belarus who prevailed 76-71.

While Meesseman made her long-awaited return to the national team in style with a wonderful 31 points and 17 boards, it wasn't enough to prevent her opponents from digging out a precious victory as Verameyenka went for 24 points and 14 boards.

Croatia also hit back after their loss last Saturday as a relieved Braslav Turic watched his players take a 67-55 win against Estonia, as the naturalised Shavonte Zellous came alive with 21 points.

A string of recently-appointed coaches who are in the first phase of their tenure all stayed flawless, with Alexander Vasin overseeing an 86-48 win in Switzerland with Russia - facilitated by 23 points from Maria Vadeeva.

Meanwhile Andrea Capobianco had to survive an ugly start by his team in Manchester, but Italy were eventually able to deliver a heavy blow to Great Britain with a 60-48 victory - helped by a vintage 27-point display from Laura Macchi, who has only just returned to the side after a six-year hiatus.

Kostas Keramidas recorded a 74-40 win with Greece in Bulgaria, as another veteran legend in Evanthia Maltsi lit it up with 21 points.

There was heartbreak for both Germany and Israel as they suffered gut-wrenching losses while in pursuit of their first triumphs in the competition.

Olesia Malashenko and Alina Iagupova propelled Ukraine to a narrow 66-64 win in Marburg, while Romania handed Israel a bitter pill by doing the business from the free-throw line in crunch time to escape from Tel Aviv with a 78-77 success.

Elsewhere, Montenegro romped past Albania, 99-39, and Anna Jurcenkova harvested a superb double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds for Slovak Republic in a 72-55 win in Iceland.

Hungary also won the road 67-50 in Portugal as Tijana Krivacevic continued her hot streak with 20 points and lastly, defending champions Serbia highlighted a gulf in class against Luxembourg by amassing a mammoth 132-38 win as Sonja Petrovic sunk 28 points for the holders.

Click here for full coverage of the EuroBasket Women 2017 Qualifiers.

FIBA