Opportunity knocks for Slovenia
LJUBLJANA (FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017 Qualifiers) - Slovenia have handed their usual suspects the opportunity to secure a historic place at EuroBasket Women 2017.
LJUBLJANA (FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017 Qualifiers) - Slovenia have handed their usual suspects the opportunity to secure an historic place at EuroBasket Women 2017 as they look to make the most of their advantageous position in Group A.
Standing proudly unbeaten with a pair of wins against Lithuania and Latvia already to their name, Slovenia stand on the verge of a first ever appearance in the Final Round if they can finish the job during November’s Qualifying games.
"We are now in a very good position, because we already have two victories meaning we're close to fulfilling the objective," mused head coach, Damir Grgic who has announced an initial 23-strong preliminary squad.
| Slovenia preliminary squad for FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017 Qualifiers | |||
| Rebeka Abramovic | Nika Baric | Maja Erkic | Maja Jakobcic |
| Tina Jakovina | Anita Kastelic | Anja Klavzar | Zala Lesek |
| Eva Lisec | Ana Ljubenovic | Sara Meden | Teja Oblak |
| Larisa Ocvirk | Sandra Pirsic | Alma Potocnik | Annamaria Prezelj |
| Katarina Ristic | Eva Rupnik | Marusa Senicar | Eva Stefanoski |
| Tina Trebec | Polona Zalar | Ziva Zdolsek | |
"The fact is that we are close to premiering in this big competition, but to achieve the objective we need to maintain cool heads.
"We must do everything in our power to win the next match against Lithuania in Celje.
"I expect the atmosphere to be even better than it was last February during the match against Latvia."
He added, "All the time we are keeping track of players that are on our wider list and we are pleased by the fact that the girls are healthy and we hope that this will still be the case before these two qualifying games."
Slovenia will play the still winless Lithuania prior to travelling to Latvia who currently lead Group A, but were comprehensively beaten by some 18 points by Coach Grgic and his players in their previous outing.
The team will continue to be led by their backcourt and wing trio of Good Angel Kosice standout Teja Oblak, UMMC playmaker Nika Baric and veteran wing star Maja Erkic who is leading the way with more than 14 points per game.
FIBA