PIRAEUS (Greece) - A career-high score in the competition from Raquel Carrera was the foundation for Spain to post a 88-81 Quarter-Finals success against Czechia after having to show the resilience to back from a 14-point deficit.
The frontcourt ace came off the bench to spark the rescue mission as Spain also turned up the defensive heat down the stretch to finish the job and set up a mouth-watering last four matchup against neighbors France.
Turning point
Trailing 44-30 in the second period, Spain posted a 25-10 run either side of the half-time break to drag themselves back into contention. Then, with the outcome finely balanced at 73-73 with a handful of minutes remaining, Czechia center Julia Reisengerova fouled out of the contest and it was pivotal as Spain made a strong run in the closing moments.
TCL Player of the Game
Carrera caught fire and finished the game with her best ever haul of 31 points including 19 of 19 from the free-throw line. She also had 8 rebounds and finished with a performance efficiency valuation of 37.
Stats don't lie
They say free-throws win games and Spain bought into that by making a massive 30 of 33 from the line which was a 90 percent success rate. Meanwhile, Czechia missed 10 of their 26 attempts.
Bottom line
Spain's resolve was put to the test and when they were struggling to get going at both ends of the court, it looked like it might not even happen at all. They were not exactly reaching for the panic button, but nerves were being shredded. However, they came back with a renewed focus after half-time and found more offensive patience and rhythm, heated up defensively and showed the DNA that has seen them land on the podium regularly in the last 10-15 years.
Czechia will be left kicking themselves after a positive performance that promised plenty. They shot the ball well from the open court and showed the team basketball that made the fans in Brno so proud and happy. Petra Holesinska was super with her all-time highest score in the competition of 23 points, but they just didn't have quite enough to see it out - especially when Reisingerova left the game on five fouls.
They said
"We started the game in a soft way and I don't know if we were nervous or anxious. We had no rebounds and no 50-50 balls and we also didn't share the ball like we usually would. But we recovered in the second half and had a great team spirit. I think we deserved to win." Miguel Mendez, Spain head coach "For me I am really proud of my team - for the players and our coaches as it wasn't easy. With the half-time and the score at 11 points down. I think it shows the character of this team." Alba Torrens, Spain forward
"We are really disappointed as the first half was going really well for us. We struggled a bit with the defense. We really made too many fouls in the game. But we fought and I can't be unhappy with the girls." Romana Ptackova, Czechia head coach "One thing that we talked about before this one, was about Spain's mentality and we knew how they played and how they can come back into games. We fought in the second half but when they made their first 5 shots, we panicked in that moment. I think we fought but it just wasn't enough." Petra Holesinska, Czechia guard
FIBA