Great Britain running on all cylinders, Romania equally impressive on Day 2
DUBLIN (FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2017, Division B) - Perfect symmetry in all four groups - two teams at 2-0, two at 1-1, and two of them still seeking an illusive first win.
DUBLIN (FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2017, Division B) - Perfect symmetry in all four groups - two teams at 2-0, two at 1-1, and two of them still seeking an illusive first win.
Portugal had the toughest task of all the unbeaten teams, but used their dynamic duo to defeat Finland 75-66. The second quarter was decisive, a 24-7 partial got Portugal in front and they never looked back. Beatriz Jordao had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Luana Serranho went all-round and picked up 17 points, 6 assists and 5 steals.
Poland joined Portugal at 2-0 in Group A with a comfy 65-25 win over Estonia. Martyna Leszczynska had game-highs of 11 points and 12 rebounds, and all 12 Polish players played double-digit minutes. Bulgaria used a 34-17 first half to hand Luxembourg a 56-44 loss and go into a tie with Finland at 1-1 in the standings.
In Group B, Germany had a day off, as Denmark withdrew from the tournament and all of their games are registered as 20-0. Belarus are also at 2-0, following their 73-43 win over Iceland. Aryna Masko had 17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists for the winning side. Austria and Albania are tied at 1-1 after Austria defeated Albania 91-50 in a game where all 12 Austrian players scored.
Israel are sharing the lead in Group C. They built a 10-point lead early in the game against the Netherlands, and cruised the rest of the way for an 81-62 victory. Dor Saar was on the receiving end of a lot of high-fives, finishing the game with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.
The orange team dropped to 1-1, with the Norwegian team catching up thanks to a 56-40 win over Switzerland. Marem Mildestvedt had a game-high 26 points for Norway. Romania had no trouble against Georgia, celebrating a 122-47 win with Nicoleta Ghita's 19 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists in 23 minutes on the floor.
But even that Romanian scoring burst wasn't the most impressive offensive output of the day. Great Britain defeated Moldova 148-28, all 12 British players scored 5 or more points in a 47-assist effort that will be hard to repeat.
Ireland made sure Great Britain had their neighbors close by in the standings, Claire Melia had a 30-point explosion in an 84-46 triumph against the Slovak Republic. Melia is the leading scorer of the tournament with two games played. Ukraine bounced back from their opening day loss against Great Britain and defeated MKD 77-48 on Oksana Fastova's 12 points and 10 rebounds.
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