One step closer to promotion: Semi-Finals lineup confirmed in Podgorica

PODGORICA (Montenegro) - There were celebrations in order for Serbia, Sweden, Turkey and Israel after they all punched their ticket to the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship, Division B.

Serbia continued their winning ways in a nail-biter, as they were able to hold off Bulgaria 64-63. Bulgaria trailed by 12 points after three quarters and went on to outscore Serbia 22-11 in the fourth quarter, but their comeback fell just short. Lana Maric recorded a nice stat line with 16 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 blocks.

Serbia will face Sweden in the Semi-Finals after Sweden went on to get a 63-58 win over Austria. Austria tied the game at 56 after being down by as many as 16 points, but Sweden used a 7-2 run to close out the game.

Sweden dominated on the glass, out-rebounding Austria 63-34, as Lourdes Da Silva Costa (18 rebounds, 8 offensive) and Hanna Hilberth (16 rebounds, 7 offensive) combined to grab as many rebounds as Austria did as a team.

Turkey became the third team to join the Semi-Finals field after taking down Bosnia and Herzegovina comfortably, 85-52. Bosnia hung around for the first quarter, but Turkey stepped on the gas and the game was never in doubt after that.

Selin Tekin led Turkey, scoring 20 points off the bench along with 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, converting 7-of-10 shots from the field and 5-of-8 shots from three-point.

The last Semi-Final of the day saw Israel emerge victorious over Slovakia, 60-48, setting up a showdown with the aforementioned Turkey. The game was closely contested in the first quarter and into the beginning of the second quarter, before Israel regained the lead and never let it go.

Israel's trio of Gal Raviv (17 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists), Maya Zilbershlag (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Ayala Oren (11 points, 5 rebounds) combined to score 43 of the team's points.

In the 9-16 classification games, Netherlands edged out Norway 54-53, Great Britain beat Ukraine 59-51 after a 21-3 fourth quarter, hosts Montenegro handled Ireland 85-61, and finally, Romania and Iceland had a back-and-forth contest with Iceland coming out on top at the final buzzer, 68-62.

Meanwhile, in the 17-19 classification game in Group E, North Macedonia defeated Switzerland 64-57 for their first win of the tournament.

Semi-Finals pairings (Friday, August 26):

- Serbia v Sweden
- Turkey v Israel

FIBA