ANDORRA LA VELLA (Andorra) - Armenia and Georgia came through their respective Semi-Finals in contrasting circumstances to advance to Sunday's Final, where the winner of the FIBA U18 Women's EuroBasket 2025, Division C will be crowned. After going winless in last year’s competition, Armenia now find themselves in the title game — but only by the skin of their teeth, overcoming Malta 57-56.
After surging out to a 16-9 lead after the first quarter in Saturday's first encounter, a furious 22-point Malta deluge in the second saw Armenia down four at the half. After a tight third quarter, the stage was set for a frantic finish. With baskets at a premium, Armenia took a 55-49 lead with just over two minutes remaining. Undeterred, Malta went on a 7-2 run of their own, capped by a vital three-pointer from Gwen Carabott to tie the game with four seconds left. Overtime seemed certain until Susanna Khachatryan was fouled as she received the inbound pass out of the timeout.
With Malta over the foul limit, Khachatryan stepped to the line with the chance to send Armenia to the final. The 16-year-old’s nerves showed as she missed her first attempt, but the second just rolled in, giving Armenia a one-point lead. Malta had a chance to steal the win with just under three seconds remaining, but couldn’t get a shot off before time expired, sending the Armenian squad into a jubilant frenzy.
Seda Gabrielyan paced Armenia with 21 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block, while Sarah Fenech Pace tallied 14 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists in a valiant effort for Malta.
Georgia, meanwhile, faced no such challenges in their late-day clash, as their suffocating full-court press forced an astonishing 30 turnovers in a decisive 104-72 victory over Albania. The 2024 fifth-place finishers were aggressive from the start, building a substantial 55-30 lead at halftime and holding their opponents to just 31.7 percent shooting from the field.
Salome Svani, MVP of the 2022 tournament when Georgia claimed gold, was exceptional again, pouring in 39 points on 50 percent shooting. Nitsa Sabadashvili backed her up with a monster double-double of 19 points and 17 rebounds. Emilia Lazo led Albania with 20 points, as they now prepare to face Malta in Sunday’s Third Place Game.
Earlier in the day, Andorra convincingly defeated Gibraltar 93-45 in the Classification 5-7 game, with Carla Puig leading the way by scoring 20 points.
FINAL (SUNDAY, JULY 27)
Armenia vs Georgia
Third Place Game
Malta vs Albania
CLASSIFICATION GAME 5-7
Andorra vs Cyprus
FIBA