France, Spain to battle it out for 2022 title in Matosinhos

MATOSINHOS (Portugal) - Spain and France both got impressive wins in their Semi-Finals matchups and will now play in the Final on Saturday at the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship.

Spain will be looking for their first gold medal at this event since 2016. while France will be going for their first since 2017.

Spain came through victorious over Croatia in the first Semi-Final, 75-54. It was a battle through the first three quarters, as Spain led 46-45 heading into the final quarter. Spain then ran away with the game thanks to a 29-9 fourth quarter to seal their spot in the Semi-Finals.

Center Awa Thiam put up another huge double-double for Spain with 16 points and 16 rebounds, along with 4 assists and 3 steals, while Carla Osma also had a double-double of her own with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

In the second Semi-Final, France brought Portugal's Cinderella story tournament run to an end, beating the hosts 87-36. Portugal shot just 26 percent from the field compared to France who got in a rhythm and knocked down 53.6 percent of their shots.

France's defense put constant pressure on Portugal which led to them getting baskets from easy opportunities, as they had a 38-7 advantage in points from turnovers.

In the 5-8 Classification Games, Hungary won an overtime thriller over Italy 56-54, thanks to a game-winning shot by Dora Toman with 8 seconds left, while Greece prevailed over Belgium 61-57, thanks to two made free-throws that sealed the game with 13 seconds left.

In the 9-12 Classification Games, Poland snatched their second win of the tournament over Czech Republic, 74-55, while Latvia edged out Slovenia 80-70 thanks to a 14-3 run to close the game.

In the 13-16 Classification Games, Germany pulled out their first win of the tournament, 73-68 over Lithuania, while Finland got their first win of the tournament over Denmark 64-47. This means that Lithuania and Denmark will be relegated to Division B next year.

FIBA