On 3rd February, the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers game took place in Riga. The National team of Belarus did not win the rivals from Poland – 56:68.
The course of the game
For more than a minute, the teams could not open the score. Finally, Viktoriya Hasper got the ball, forcing the opponents to foul.
The teams acted differently in the attack. Our team, having an advantage in height, "drove" the ball into the three-second area, while Viktoriya Hasper and Anastasiya Veremeyenka completed their attacks. However, the team Poland in the 1st quarter scored exclusively from a distance. After the 4th three-point shot by our rivals, Nataliya Trafimava took a time-out.
Surprisingly, the Polish National team attacked more effectively from the perimeter than from other distances. The opponents scored 5 out of 8 three-pointers with only 1 out of 12 from the midcourt line and 0 out of 2 from the free-throw line. The Belarusians left for the first break with a 5 points difference – 12:17.
The situation did not change before halftime: the Belarusians were stronger than their rivals in almost all aspects but due to the low percentage of baskets from the perimeter they gave way after 20 minutes – 25:33.
Throughout the second half, our National team tried to catch up with the rivals and even the score. Moreover, it nearly happened at the beginning of the 4th quarter.
Key moment
For 15 minutes, the Belarusian women managed not to let the opponents enter their zone and successfully attack. However, in the middle of the last quarter, the Poles made several important shots and created a double-digit advantage again. Our team did not come back.
Debut
Today's game was a debut for the defender of the Grodno "Olimpia" – Yuliya Vasilevich. During the first quarter, the 19-year-old player spent 3 minutes on the court and unfortunately did not score.
What's next
On 4th February, our team will play against team Great Britain and on 6th February another one against tram Poland.
Both games will start at 14:30 Belarusian time.
Online game broadcasts:
- TV channel "Belarus 5";
- FIBA's official YouTube channel;
- belarus.basketball website.
Comments
Nataliya Trafimava head coach of the Women's National team of Belarus: "I can't say that this defeat was the result of underestimating the opponent. More likely, we were simply not ready for such active defensive actions by Poland. Moreover, a significant role in our game is devoted to the shots from beyond the three-point line, on which we made a big bet. Unfortunately, today we weren’t that good at it thus influencing the result. Of course, quickly realizing that in this particular game we were not making long distance shots, we tried to rebuild our team and involve our forwards more. However, even this tactic did not bring the necessary success. I would not like to look for an excuse that we have not played together for over a year but now there is absolutely no time for this. I will say that the main thing now is to quickly forget today's game and focus on the two upcoming. Tomorrow we have the first chance to rehabilitate ourselves and we should take advantage of the opportunity".
Yulia Rytsikava the player of the Women's National team of Belarus: "Today we failed to implement the instructions of the coaching staff both in attack and defense, which led to the defeat. In turn, the opponents worked actively in defense, not allowing us to score our goals. Perhaps, the lack of team practice affected the result: we haven’t been on the court as the National team for more than a year. Yet, in no case, we are going to give up, because there are still two games ahead. It is necessary to work quickly on the mistakes so that tomorrow the result will be in our favor".
Belarus vs Poland - 56:68 (12-17, 13-16, 16-13, 15-22)
Belarus: Papova (13 + 5 rebounds), Likhtarovich (11 + 6 rebounds), Hasper (8), Snytina (4 + 6 rebounds), Ziuzkova (2 + 5 assists); Veremeyenka (8 + 8 rebounds), Bentley (4), Rytsikava (4), Inkina (2), Vasilevich (0).
- Details