CELJE (2015 U18 European Championship Women) - France will play Russia and Spain will face Italy in the Semi-Finals of the U18 European Championship Women in Celje, Slovenia, on Saturday after a dramatic day of Quarter-Final action.

Russia broke the hearts of host nation Slovenia in a rollercoaster game that saw the home team almost come all the way back from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit. The two teams shot exceptionally well, connecting on 18 of their 36 combined three-point attempts, but Russia withstood the Slovenian onslaught to end up victorious, 89-80. Raisa Musina top-scored with 25 points and added 12 rebounds.

They will face France in the Semi-Final on Saturday after the French team maintained the tournament's only unbeaten record with an 89-32 thrashing of Netherlands. Alexia Chatereau had a double-double by half-time, finishing with 15 points and 12 boards, and Ana Tadic had a game-high 16 points, adding 7 boards and 3 blocks.

Spain's Maria Conde also racked up a double-double in the first half, but her team slumped dramatically in the fourth quarter to give Belgium a chance down the stretch, going scoreless for the first seven minutes of the final period before a pair of crucial baskets from Conde broke the drought in the nick of time. Conde ended with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 6 assists in the 59-53 victory.

Their opponents in the Semi-Final will be Italy, who led from start to finish against Czech Republic and pulled away in the final minutes to take a 63-46 win. Francesca Pan had 14 points for the Italian team and point guard Mariella Santucci added 13.

In classification action, Serbia, Lithuania, Croatia and Israel were able to celebrate victories that secured their Division A status for 2016. Serbia ousted Portugal 57-50 led by Kristina Arsenic's double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Lithuania came back to defeat Hungary 72-68 behind 15 points from Gabija Meskonyte.

Croatia eased to a 65-50 victory over Estonia, with Ivana Dojkic top-scoring on 23 points, and Israel beat Poland 56-44 led by 14 points apiece from Eden Rotberg and Yael Galili.

The losers of Saturday's Hungary-Portugal and Estonia-Poland matches will be relegated, with the two winning teams set to clash on Sunday to decide the final relegation spot.

Go to http://u18women.fibaeurope.com/en/default.asp for complete coverage of the 2015 U18 European Championship Women.

FIBA