Race for promotion: Quarter-Finals field set in Podgorica

PODGORICA (Montenegro) - The Group Phase at the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship, Division B is officially over, meaning that the Quarter-Finals in Podgorica have been confirmed.

The top two teams in each of the four groups have been rewarded with a spot in the final eight and the race for a potential promotion to Division A is up for grabs.

Three countries are moving onto the Quarter-Finals undefeated, including Group A winners Serbia, who finished their group play 3-0 by beating Ireland 80-45. Serbia trailed 18-13 after the first quarter but went on to pull away and win the other three quarters.

The three leading scorers for Serbia, Jana Vesic (14 points), Imana Cosovic (11 points) and Ivanka Ivanovic (11 points), all came off the bench to combine for 36 of the team's 47 bench points.

Bosnia and Herzegovina clinched second place in Group A after prevailing 44-40 over Netherlands. It was a do-or-die game, as both teams came into the game at 2-1 with second place in the group up for grabs. Both struggled to get shots to fall from the field with Bosnia shooting 19.4 percent and Netherlands shooting 26.7 percent.

Turnovers and second chance points proved to be costly for Netherlands, as Bosnia forced them into 34 turnovers and outscored them 12-0 in second chance points with a +10 advantage in offensive rebounds. Bosnia's Lyla Grace Kahrimanovic just missed out on a triple-double, as she finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 7 steals.

In Group B, Turkey took care of Norway 87-37 behind 49 points from the bench. Selin Tekin (14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Sanem Ates (14 points, 7 rebounds) combined for 28 of those bench points.

Bulgaria claimed an all-important 70-64 victory against hosts Montenegro in the final day of group play to seal second place in Group B. Denitsa Manolova powered Bulgaria to victory with 33 points and 8 rebounds on 13-of-25 shooting from the field, also converting a dagger three-point play to put the game away in the final seconds.

It was heartbreak for the hosts, as despite starting 2-0, they won't go through to the Quarter-Finals due to finishing third of the 2-1 teams in the three-way tiebreak behind Turkey and Bulgaria.

Group C winners and undefeated Israel wrapped up group play with a 71-55 win over Sweden. Maya Zilbershlag recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Despite the loss, Sweden still finished in second place in the group. Elsewhere in Group C, in the battle to see who would get their first win, Ukraine beat Switzerland 62-43.

In Group D, first place went to unbeaten Austria, who managed to escape with a 63-61 win over Great Britain. Great Britain went on a 19-0 run in the final 4:28, but just fell short in the end. Austria's Sina Hollerl turned in a balanced stat line of 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks.

Slovakia is moving on as the second-place team from Group D after handling Romania in a wire-to-wire win, 74-46. Four players scored in double figures for Slovakia, led by Katarina Sediva who finished with a double-double of 12 points, 11 rebounds along with 4 assists and 2 steals.

Quarter-Finals pairings (Thursday, August 25):

- Serbia v Bulgaria
- Austria v Sweden
- Turkey v Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Israel v Slovakia

FIBA