Israel hand Lithuania first defeat to advance, Quarter-Final field confirmed

AUSTRIA (FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2018, Division B) – The last six Quarter-Final spots in the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018, Division B were handed out on Wednesday evening in Austria, with Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey and Ukraine joining the already qualified Belarus and Finland.

Having dropped their first game in the tournament the day before, Israel bounced back and moved on to the Play-Offs with a 76-66 upset against the previously undefeated Group B front-runners Lithuania, with Gili Eisner leading the way with a near triple-double of 13 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

The Israeli side led by as many as 23 points in the contest and were close to putting the Lithuanians out of the Quarter-Finals picture, but the Kristina Masionyte-led Baltic side managed to cut down the dangerous deficit and maintain the top spot in the standings.

Good moods all around for Israel after staying in the hunt for promotion

Despite finishing the Group Phase with an 80-68 win over Bulgaria, Greece were left on the hot seat in a three-way tie with Lithuania and Israel, who also ended with 4-1 marks, due to having the worst head-to-head point differential.

Having already secured Quarter-Final berth on Tuesday, Finland kept their perfect record in Group A with an 109-50 victory over Iceland. The second spot in the standings was filled by Portugal, who celebrated a 57-54 triumph in a close-fought, do-or-die match-up against Romania to advance to the next round of the competition.

Sara Guerreiro and Ana Jesus stepped up for the Portuguese side, with the former collecting 19 points and 7 rebounds and the latter adding a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double. Carla Popescu finished the contest with a game-high 22 points for Romania, but saw their Division A dreams extinguished.

Turkey have been on fire since their opening-day defeat to Denmark

Meanwhile, Turkey snatched the number one seed in Group C by topping the Netherlands 68-62 for their fourth consecutive victory in the tournament after starting their campaign on the wrong foot. Sevval Gul converted 10-of-19 attempts from the field to lead all scorers with 20 points for the Emre Ozsari-coached side, while Goksen Fitik chipped in with 17 points and 4 rebounds.

Despite suffering a defeat on the last day of the Group Phase, the Dutch side claimed second place on the table with a 3-2 record after Denmark slipped up against Great Britain, suffering an 83-62 defeat later in the night and dropping to fourth in the standings.

One of two remaining undefeated teams in the tournament, Belarus moved to a 5-0 record in Group D with a 90-46 victory over Slovakia to confirm the top spot in the standings.

Ukraine didn't shy away from the big moment, getting the job done against Luxembourg

However, the most important battle of Group D took place elsewhere, as Ukraine beat Luxembourg 61-52 to round out the list of qualified teams behind the powerful play of Vladyslava Voloshyna, Tetian Havrylchyk and Yana Rabhuk, who combined for 48 of the team's points in the win.

Out of contention for promotion spots, Norway topped Kosovo 78-68 in the only other Group D game of the day; Montenegro kept the tournament hosts winless in Group C with a 69-51 win; Switzerland brushed aside Albania 70-56; and Cyprus inscribed a 68-61 win over Georgia in Group A.

Quarter-Final pairings:

Finland v Israel Belarus v Netherlands Lithuania v Portugal Turkey v Ukraine [/unordered]

FIBA