LAT/FRA/RUS/ESP/BLR – Fantastic France beat Russia to gold; Spain claim bronze

RIGA (EuroBasket Women 2009) - The storm clouds that gathered over French women’s basketball after the EuroBasket Women two years ago have disappeared.

Only the sun is shining right now for Les Bleues, who captured the gold medal at the EuroBasket Women in Riga on Saturday.

After the disappointment of an eighth-place finish in 2007, a result that prevented France from playing at the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Madrid, Pierre Vincent's team capped a remarkable comeback to the top of Europe with a 57-53 win over Russia in the championship game.

Sandrine Gruda, France's star center and leading scorer in the tournament, had 12 points in a balanced attack as Les Bleues captured the title for only the second time and went undefeated in the process.

They led by as many as 19 points in the second half before sweating out a nervous final minute as missed free throws gave the Russians a chance to draw closer.

Valeriy Tikhonenko's team closed the gap to four points in the final minute and had the ball but got no closer.

In their other gold-medal win, France hosted the 2001 event and beat Russia in that final.

"We had nothing to lose going into this game," said Emmeline Ndongue, who had eight of her 11 points in the first half as France got on top of the defending champions for good.

"We had already qualified for the World Championship and there was no pressure on us.

"(France coach) Vincent did everything to make us win. He gave every player a chance to be on the court and that gives you confidence."

“This one is better than 2001,” said France veteran Cathy Melain, who delayed her retirement from basketball to play for the team in Latvia.

“We didn’t expect this. The first time, it was at home. This time, we didn’t know what our level in Europe was. It was sort of a surprise.”

France won a series of close games, including a 51-49 nail-biter against Greece in the Quarter-Finals.

They had made a statement to Russia in their Qualifying Round meeting, overcoming them 72-66.

Russia pulled away against Spain to win their Semi-Final 77-61 while France defeated Belarus.

“When you play in a competition, you always have a chance,” Vincent said.

Vincent's team restricted Russia to just 19 first-half points and opened their big advantage in the third quarter with great balance on offense and tenacious defense and rebounding.

With 1:40 remaining, however, cracks began to show in the French armor when the Russians started fouling and Vincent’s team started missing free-throws, including six in the final 1:08.

Russia pulled to within 57-53 on a lay-up by Abrosimova with 29 seconds to play.

Then, after Ndongue missed two, Russia rushed the ball up the floor only for Abrosimova, Stepanova and Marina Karpunina to be off target from long range.

France's Celine Dumerc grabbed the rebound on Karpunina's miss and ran up the floor as the final buzzer sounded.

"You always have a chance in any tournament," Vincent said. "I knew if we played well in Latvia, we'd have an opportunity and we did."

As for the missed free-throws, France point guard Celine Dumerc said: “Maybe we were a little anxious and that’s why we lost the ball and missed free-throws.”

In the bronze-medal game, Spain defeated Belarus 63-56.

"We're really happy to get this medal,” Spain’s Anna Montanana said.

“I think the team deserve it.

"Probably every team thinks they deserve it, but we only lost one game and had eight great games.

“We didn't have a good game (against Russia, 77-61), but we should be really proud because even though the Russia game was a big disappointment, we came back and proved we have a lot of heart."

France, Russia, Spain, Belarus and fifth-place Greece booked places in the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women in the Czech Republic and also clinched their spots for EuroBasket 2011.

FIBA