PIRAEUS (Greece) - A first quarter deluge of downtown buckets provided the foundation for France to collect a dominant 83-61 win against Lithuania and advance to the last four of FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025.
Catching fire from the first jump-ball and posting a record high score in the competition for the first quarter, they blew their opponents away to step into the Semi-Finals for the ninth consecutive edition.
Turning point
There wasn't one. France made a staggering 9 of 11 from long-range in the first quarter of the contest.
With Lithuania also committing 8 turnovers in the opening 10 minutes, it was always realistically over at 36-14.
TCL Player of the Game
This was an exceptional team effort from France, but Iliana Rupert was the individual baller that stood out most. The center finished with a fine 15 points, shot 5 of 8 from the floor and pulled down 3 rebounds as well as 3 steals and a block.
Stats don't lie
With 36 points in the first quarter, France achieved a record-breaking tally, firing more points than any other team in the history of the competition. Their half-time haul of 56 points was also a record at the break in a Quarter-Finals game. France eventually made 10 triples, while Lithuania committed 25 turnovers.
Bottom line
France came out and moved the ball brilliantly, made all those shots from outside and also turned the defensive screw without delay, which made it a nightmare start for Lithuania. Looking focused, energetic, physically superior in every way and having hit a high offensive gear in their last games, it's looking great for them with two games to go.
Lithuania were swept away and left chasing shadows. The most disappointing aspect was probably throwing the ball away, rather than watching France shoot the lights out. Now they need to regroup, take the positives of their early work in Bologna and try for a spot in the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments.
They said
"I am very happy for this win. We knew Lithuania are a good team and that we would have to be intense for 40 minutes. We have shooters in this team and we have shown this since the beginning [of the tournament]. We share the ball and you saw they were not crazy shots." Iliana Rupert, France center
"We came to the game and let them be aggressive and we didn't give that back. It's going to be important to leave this game behind and keep our heads high." Egle Sventoraite, Lithuania center "It was a tough game. In the first quarter they killed us. We started the game too soft in defense." Vilius Stanisauskas, Lithuania head coach
FIBA