On 6th February, in Riga, the Women's National team of Belarus had the last game in the FIBA Women’s Eurobasket-2021. Nataliya Trafimava’s team gained confident revenge from the Polish National team – 80:49.
The course of the game
In order to get a ticket to the FIBA Women’s Eurobasket-2021, the Polish National team needed a thumping win – score 29 points or more. It was an active start for the Poles: scored 5 points per minute, did not give their rivals a chance for almost half a quarter.
However, our team corrected some mistakes after the failure in the first game and significantly strengthened the defense. Basketball players of the Polish National team no longer made three-pointers, and the percentage of our rivals' performance immediately fell – the Belarusians conceded only 12 points in 10 minutes and 29 points before halftime. By this time, our National team had already a 14-point lead.
Perhaps the only drawback in the game of our team in the first half was the absence of a quick attack and our team preferred positional attacks. As the roles were correctly outlined on the opponent's half, the Belarusians consistently scored points, giving their rivals a lot of problems in the paint.
Katsiaryna Snytsina and Anastasiya Veremeyenka stood out by halftime. The captain of the National team scored 10 points and made 3 passes, and the center had 9 points with 3/3 during the game.
The second half of the game had a similar scenario. Team Poland, cheered up in a 15-minute pause, tried to work harder at least to even the score. However, the energy ran out quickly and they did not figure out how to stop the attack of the Belarusian team. Having consecutively won each quarter, our team gained a second victory in the "bubble" in Riga and won a ticket to the FIBA Women’s Eurobasket-2021 from 1st place in the group. Another pleasant moment was that today Nataliya Trafimava has let all 12 players enter the court. Therefore, 19-year-old Yuliya Vasilevich scored her first points (4 points) for the National team.
Game figure
31 – our team won with such an advantage. Let us remind you that the Belarusian team had the right to lose with a difference of no more than 29 points.
It is interesting that the Belarusian National team also started the qualifying cycle for the FIBA EuroBasket 2021 with a 31-point victory: Great Britain lost in Manchester (90:59).
Comments
Nataliya Trafimava head coach of the Women's National team of Belarus: "Congratulations to our entire team and those people who supported us. In addition, I am very glad that we’ve completed our path to the Qualifiers with such a convincing victory. Today's result has confirmed our level and a certain class. It was important to not only take revenge on Poland, but also to show a decent game and what we are capable of. I am sure the outcome of this game will lift the mood and the spirit of the team in the near future".
Anastasiya Veremeyenka player of the Women's National team of Belarus: "Of course, all the teams participating in this competition are of a good level. Perhaps in the first game with Poland, we slightly underestimated the opponent. However, today's game has set things straight. Moreover, the opponents needed a victory with a certain difference; therefore, I am sure they entered the court with a competitive spirit. However, this time we managed to show our level, quite challenging the Polish players. Now we will prepare for the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2021, setting the highest goals for this tournament."
Poland vs Belarus – 49:80 (12-23, 17-20, 12-14, 8-23)
Belarus: Snytsina (14 + 5 assists), Likhtarovich (11 + 6 assists + 5 rebounds), Papova (10 + 5 rebounds), Hasper (8), Ziuzkova (2), Veremeyenka (11), Rytsikava (8), Bentley (6), Vasilevich (4), Inkina (4), Brych (2), Masko (0).
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