ESP/CZE/RUS/ISR – Spain, Czechs and Russians preparing in Moscow event

MOSCOW (Olympics) - Spain’s women edged the Czech Republic 66-63 in their opening game at the Olympic warm-up tournament in Moscow but on Wednesday suffered a 69-58 defeat to Israel.

Anna Montanana had a game-high 25 points but Israel, who will this summer attempt to qualify for next year’s EuroBasket Women in Latvia, outscored the Spanish 25-12 over the final 10 minutes.

"This defeat should help us grow as a team,” Spain coach Evaristo Perez said.

“Besides being one of 14 from three-point range, we have missed unimaginable things, easy shots underneath the basket, easy layups that make it impossible to win against any team.

"Israel gave us problems with the movement of their centers and with their effective play.

“When we are lucid, we play good basketball as we proved against the Czech Republic but we must be more consistent.”

Montanana had 15 points and Elisa Aguilar 14 in Spain’s victory over the Czechs.

Perez’s players earned a place at the Beijing Games via the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women in June.

The hosts of the warm-up event, Russia, pummelled the Czechs on Wednesday 75-61.

Igor Grudin’s team extended a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter to 41-33 by half-time and ended up claiming an impressive triumph with Tatiana Shchegoleva pouring in 17 points, Svetlana Abrosimova 14 and Irina Osipova 12.

The Czechs, who also earned a place at the Beijing Games via the qualifying event in Madrid, got a team-high 13 from Eva Viteckova.

Russia, who were 84-69 winners over Israel in their first game of the Moscow Tournament, claimed their spot in China automatically when capturing the EuroBasket Women 2007 title in Italy.

FIBA