• After winning the third place in the World Series stage in Friborg, with Aneta Šteinberga leaving the team, the Latvian national team failed to win any of the two qualifying games in Priština, remaining in 14th place. This week, the basketball players of the Latvian national team, Aleksa Gulbe, Ketija Vihmane, Marta Mishchenko and Luize Šepte, tried to achieve what they failed to achieve in Priština in the Bordeaux tournament qualification.
• In the first game, the Latvian national team again had to compete against the Turkish national team, which lost 8:11 in Pristina. Before this game, Turkish basketball players played a game against the Austrian national team, losing 12:17. In a similar fight, only the Latvians prevailed over their opponents in the last three minutes and won 19:17. Wichmane and Gulbe scored seven and six points, respectively, while Mishchenko and Shepte each added three.
• At the beginning of the game, the Turkish national team took the lead with 2:0, but at the end of the first minute, Vihmane equalized with an accurate long shot from the corner. The Latvians lacked creativity in attack, and the game in defense was not up to par. The Turkish women took advantage of it, gaining a three-point advantage (6:3). The Latvians fought back, but Gulbe didn’t use the opportunity to equalize from the free throw line. At the beginning of the second half of the game, Shepte made a long shot, temporarily putting her team in the lead (10:9). The Turkish women twice managed to restore the two-point advantage, but the Latvians fought back (14:14). Gulbe and Mishchenko put their team in the lead with 18:16. In the last minute, the Turks made several mistakes, which helped the Latvian national team to win.
• Therefore, in order to enter the main tournament, Latvians had to beat the Austrian national team, which has participated in two tournaments so far, winning the third and fourth place. Also in this game, the Latvian national team gained a decisive advantage in the second half, achieving success with the result 15:12. Gulbe scored eight points, Wichmane four, and Mishchenko and Shepte two and one, respectively.
• In the first half of the game, the teams fought relentlessly, with one team gaining a minimal lead. The score was 7:7 at halftime. The Austrian national team gained a two-point advantage after a successful long shot, but the Latvians not only fought back after some time, but also took over the lead (13:11). The Latvian national team started the last minute with a three-point advantage, which turned out to be enough to achieve such an important victory.
• As a result, Latvian basketball players entered the main tournament, in which at At 19:15 they will play against the USA national team, and at 22:45 they will compete with the Spanish national team. The games can be watched on the FIBA 3×3 YouTube account.
2023-07-19 14:30:38
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