Czechs take down defending champs; hosts Lithuania win opener

KAUNAS (FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2018) - Czech Republic stifled the French offense to take a famous win against the defending champions, while hosts Lithuania used a strong finish to defeat Denmark.

Czech Republic held defending champions France scoreless for the majority of the fourth quarter while pouring in 10 unanswered points to claim a 56-51 victory in their Group A opener.

The French offense toiled under Czech pressure, scoring on just 34% of their field goals with only two of their 19 three-pointers hitting the target. The Czechs were led by 14 points apiece from forward Klara Stloukalova and wing Simona Fiserova. 

Hosts Lithuania survived a scare when 2017 Division B champions Denmark reduced a 20-point deficit to two points with six minutes remaining. After a colourful opening ceremony, and with Lithuanian basketball royalty in attendance, the hosts were able to send the crowd home happy with a 71-58 victory.

•Visi kauniečiai, krepšinio fanai, krepšinio megėjai rugpjūčio 17-25 dienomis ateikite palaikyti mūsų Lietuvos U16 merginų, kad šios su jūsų pagalba iškovotų medalius!☺️🏀🏆#fibau16europe#basketball

A post shared by Dalia Belickaitė (@belickaitee) on Aug 17, 2018 at 9:06am PDT

Simona Visockaite lived up to the hype with a huge double-double of 15 points and 18 boards, and she was ably assisted by Urte Cizauskaite, who had a game-high 18 points and added nine rebounds.

Russia joined Lithuania with an opening-day victory in Group D after beating Germany 51-43, while Turkey emphatically dispatched Belgium 60-38 behind Melek Uzunoglu's 18 points and nine boards to join Czech Republic atop Group A.

#FIBAU16Europe ALERT 📽️ Day 1⃣Mix 👌👌👌

Top Plays in association with @BlueStarMedia1 and 👀@pierrepiotr_ pic.twitter.com/twX3ZwekAi

— Paul Nilsen (@basketmedia365) August 17, 2018

Group B saw Serbia survive a fourth-quarter rally from the Netherlands to claim a 54-48 victory, while Spain pulled away in a dominant second half for a 96-66 win over Latvia.

In Group C, Poland got off to a winning start by beating Croatia 95-63, and Italy triumphed in a battle between the 2017 bronze and silver medalists, taking down Hungary 79-51.

To catch up on all the day's action, head to our Live feed page.

FIBA