FRA/RUS/ESP - France, Russia, Spain return to U19 Worlds Women

BUCHAREST (2013 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women) – France knocked off Russia 65-61 on Sunday to claim their first U18 European title and with it booked their spot in the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women.

Olivia Epoupa collected 20 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists in the final for France to pick up MVP honors for the tournament. The Paris native will now go for more hardware at the U19 Worlds next summer in Lithuania.

Epoupa already owns a World Championship medal, having won silver at the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women as a 16-year-old. She also helped France win U18 Euro silver in 2011.

“It’s so amazing. We worked so hard. The gold medal is amazing. Now we will work for the World Championship. But first we celebrate the gold medal,” said French forward Valeriane Ayayi.

It was France’s first European U18 gold after claiming silver in 1981, 2002, 2009 and 2011. The French Women have played at four U19 World Championships, taking fifth in 2001, sixth in 1993 and 2011, and seventh in 2009.

Russia will be making their seventh appearance at the U19 Worlds since 1993 by finishing second in Europe. But the Russians’ last U19 Worlds medal dates back to silver in 2001 – the same color they won in 1993. In 2011, Russia finished eighth.

Serbia claimed bronze at the U18 Euros to return to the U19 Worlds for the first time since winning bronze in 2007. Serbia and Montenegro won silver in 2005.

“It will be my first time going to the world championship and I hope we can achieve something there too,” said Serbia’s leading scorer Aleksandra Stanacev.

The Netherlands continued their strong push in women’s youth basketball to finish fourth and book a spot in the U19 Worlds next summer – the first time they will play at the event.

The fifth qualifier from Europe was Spain, who knocked off Turkey to finish fifth. The Spaniards hope to at least repeat their silver medals from the last two U19 Worlds in 2009 and 2011.

“I am unbelievably happy with this win. We are now in the world championship next year. It’s amazing,” said Spain’s rising starlet Leticia Romero, who will be playing for the Iberians later this month at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

Europe will have six teams in the 16-team field at the 2013 U19 Worlds as Lithuania are hosting the event. The Baltic nation finished seventh at the U18 European Championship Division B.

Four teams will qualify from FIBA Americas, three from FIBA Asia, two from FIBA Africa and the FIBA Oceania winners.

FIBA