Sliskovic in dreamland as Borovic shines

GYOR (EuroBasket Women 2015) - As Iva Sliskovic sat courtside in Szombathely with a few minutes still remaining of Russia's commanding win over Serbia, she was struggling to digest the magnitude of a result that catapulted Croatia into the Second Round at EuroBasket Women 2015.

Of course it wasn't the only game that Russia had won convincingly in Group C. Anatoliy Myshkin and his team trounced Croatia during the very first game of the competition, in a truly nightmare start for Sliskovic and her colleagues.

Arriving at the tournament with only 11 players after the naturalised Shavonte Zellous failed to collect her passport in time and already without a trio of star names in Marija Rezan, Ana Lelas and Antonija Misura, Croatia subsequently lost team leader Jelena Ivezic to injury within minutes of the Final Round tipping off, with Iva Todoric then adding to the absent list.

We had some injury problems at EuroBasket Women 2011 and we still managed to finish fifth, but that was very different. - Sliskovic

They were absolutely ripped apart by Russia and when sat dejectedly in the locker room afterwards, it looked a near certainty that their campaign was probably over after only forty minutes.

"Did I think we could recover from what had happened and make it to this Second Round? Honestly, no I didn't and especially not with only nine players," admitted Sliskovic.

"I always knew that we would do everything we could after the Russia game and that we would fight and I really hoped that we might be able to do something amazing."

Amazing is an apt description of what unfolded, when 24 hours later, Croatia shrugged off their misfortune and humbling at the hands of Russia to take a shock win against Latvia.

They then followed it up with a last day success against Great Britain.

Everyone has played their role in taking the team to Gyor and into Group F, with Sliskovic particularly exceptional against Great Britain.

The Beretta Famila Schio forward has used her EuroLeague Women experience and expertise to great effect, while other elite players such as Iva Ciglar have also stepped up. Indeed Ciglar passed the assists record for her country when stepping out against the Brits - moving past the legendary Sandra Mandir.

Alongside Ciglar has been one of the stories of the tournament so far in Iva Borovic.

In technical basketball terms, it is an astonishing story, since the shooting ace has never played basketball for her country before - talk about a late bloomer and emerging hero.

Go to EuroBasketWomen2015.com for full coverage of EuroBasket Women 2015.

FIBA