Germany, Belarus and Ireland clinch Quarter-Finals spots

DUBLIN (FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2017, Division B) - Belarus, Germany and tournament hosts Ireland booked tickets to the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2017 ahead of time in Tuesday's action in Dublin.

The Irish side have the top of Group D standings all to themselves after locking down Great Britain for a 63-49 triumph in front of a fantastic crowd to improve to a 4-0 mark and clinch qualification behind a 14-point, 15-rebound, 6-assist and 3-steal game from Claire Melia.

The second spot in the group table is still up for grabs and will be decided by a head-to-head clash between Great Britain and the Slovak Republic, who improved to a 3-1 mark with a 76-41 victory over the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Already out-of-the-race Ukraine added a big 101-55 win against Moldova, but can neither rise nor fall from their fourth position.

Germany and Belarus continued their winning streaks in Group B to secure Quarter-Final berths and set up an exciting head-to-head clash for the top spot in the table on the final Game Day.

The Luisa Geiselsoder-led Germans trumped Albania 105-38, registering an impressive double-double of 31 points and 12 rebounds, while Belarus inscribed a technical 20-0 win over Denmark, who have pulled out of the tournament.

Austria, meanwhile, climbed to third place with a 55-52 victory against Iceland thanks to 19-point and 8-rebound game by Anja Knoflach. They will finish the tournament with a 3-2 mark, given they were scheduled to play Denmark.

Portugal stayed undefeated in Group A with a 70-49 victory over Luxembourg, but still need to formalize a spot in the Play-Offs. In spite of leading the standings with a 4-0 record, the Portuguese side mustn't lose to Poland by more than 15 points to lock in their place in the next phase of the competition.

After three wins in a row to start the competition, Poland were handed their first loss of the tournament by Finland, who triumphed 72-69 behind Lotta-Maj Lahtinen's team-high 16 points to stay alive in the race for the Quarter-Finals.

Meanwhile, the already-eliminated Bulgaria improved to a 2-2 mark with a 72-54 win over bottom-of-the-pack Estonia, who now share a 0-4 record with their next opponent Luxembourg. 

There is an interesting situation in Group C, with three names remaining in the race for the Quarter-Finals. In spite of keeping their undefeated record intact with a 63-54 win over Israel, Romania will need to be at least a little bit cautious. There is a slim chance they could be overtaken by their closest rivals, Israel and the Netherlands, in a three-way scenario.

The Dutch team posted an 86-38 victory against Norway to improve to a 3-1 record behind Roby Bouwer's game-high 25 points and could advance to the next round with an unlikely 30-point win over Romania or any victory, if the winless Switzerland, who lost 70-63 to Georgia on Tuesday, hand Israel an upset. However, barring any unexpected extraordinary results, it should be Romania and Israel advancing.

FIBA