Austria conquer gold with triumph over Scotland; Gadelia wins bronze for Georgia

CHISINAU (FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2018, Division C) – Austria were crowned champions at the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2018, Division C after completing their undefeated march to gold in Moldova, with a well-deserved win over Scotland in the Final.

Having led from tip-off to the final buzzer, the Aldin Saracevic-coached team secured a 69-48 victory on Sunday to put a knot on Austria's maiden medal in official FIBA youth competitions.

It took a while for the Austrian side to pull away from Scotland, but forceful second-half performances by Charis Kluger and Veronika Heiss proved enough to get the job done.Charis Kluger turned in a big performance in the title-decider

Only two possessions separated the sides after the first half, but a 9-0 run for Austria early in the third quarter broke the game wide open and proved to be the turning point, as the margin grew to 42-29.

Kluger led all scorers with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals, Heiss collected 13 points and 5 rebounds, while Sophie Baydanov and Sarah Pia Winkler added 8 points apiece.

For Scotland, Rose Harvey and Jannike Marshall had 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Nino Gadelia and her teammates receiving bronze medals

Georgia joined Austria and Scotland on the podium after defeating tournament hosts Moldova 51-50 in a captivating thriller for third-place, with Nino Gadelia stealing it for the visitors with a game-winning basket with 11 seconds left to play.

Gadelia and Keti Danelashvili both double-doubled with 18 points apiece, while Fiiama Troian had 15 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists for Moldova.

In the bottom half of the final standings, Malta signed off on a high note, edging out Wales for a 47-43 victory in the Classification Game for 5th place, while Monaco avoided the wooden spoon by routing Gibraltar, 82-21.

FIBA