The cycle of matches of the EuroBasket Women 2017 Qualifiers of the National Women’s team ended with a painless defeat.
In Podgorica the Azzurre were beaten by Montenegro 66-57, a victory that allowed the hosts to qualify for the European Championship as second classified in group C, just behind Italy. The best scorer of the race was Jelena Dubljevic with 29 points, for the Italians Chicca Macchi finished at 15. Debut with the Senior for Martina Kacerik.
The draw for the four groups of EuroBasket Women , to be played in the Czech Republic from 16 to 25 June, will be held in Prague on December 9th. In addition to Italy and the Czech Republic as host countries, Belarus, Belgium, France, Greece, Latvia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and Hungary have qualified for the European Championship.
coach andrea capobianco
“Congratulations to Montenegro, a team that deserves to play in the European Championship. We lost a lot of balls in the first half, even allowing 20 free throws but then the girls were good at getting back into the game completely. In the end, Dubljevic made the difference, on whom we could defend better as a team. We were sure of qualification but we said that we would play a real match with Montenegro and we did. Congratulations to my players for what they have done in previous matches and also tonight, reacting to -13 against a team that two years ago in the European Championship lost to Spain by a point in the quarter-finals. In June we want to enjoy this European Championship, where we will go first in our group ”.
In Podgorica, Andrea Capobianco’s team was defeated but held the pitch well for 40 minutes, eventually paying the 23 turnovers: the Azzurre started with the right face (7-10, 6 points from Macchi ) and once accused a blackout (partial negative of 3-19) have not lost their minds. Dotto accelerated putting Skerovic in difficulty, Gorini found the basket continuously and with her Ress. Italy shortened to 31-23 before the long interval and at the opening of the third quarter with Gorini and Ressand returned to scare Montenegro (33-29). When the Italians began to find the basket with greater regularity, the home team relied on Dubljevic’s talent, also finding points from the arc from Aleksic and Vucetic.
At the last interval they went up to 49-41, with Dotto’s triple 5 minutes from the end and then Cinili’s support earned him -3 (51-48). It was Dubljevic again who made Montenegro breathe (57-48), Cinili kept us in contact with another triple but in the other half field Jovanoviche re-established the +9 from which we never got up again: the final score 66-57 but despite the defeat Italy played a solid game, holding the field for 40 minutes as requested by coach Capobianco and the Azzurro technical staff.
Appointment now at EuroBasket Women, starting June 16 in the Czech Republic. Montenegro-Italy match report
66-57
(13-12; 31-23; 49-41)
Montenegro : Mujovic 2 (1/3, 0/2) , Skerovic 2 (1/8, 0/3), Vucetic 9 (2/4, 1/1), Kuzelj, Rakovic ne, Aleksic 6 (0/1, 2/4), Dubljevic 29 (10/12), Milosev ne, Perovanovic 10 (2/5), Pasic, Jovanovic 8 (1/1, 2/4), Pejovic ne. Coach: Milatovic.
Italy: Consolini (0/2), Zandalasini 9 (3/6), Cinili 6 (1/2, 1/2), Dotto 9 (3/6, 1/1), Masciadri, Formica (0/1), Ress 6 (3/5), Kacerik, Crippa, Gorini 9 (3/3, 1/2), Bestagno 3 (1/1), Macchi 15 (6/10, 1/5). Coach: Capobianco.
T2P: Montenegro 17/34; Italy 20/36.
T3P: Montenegro 5/14; Italy 4/10.
TL: Montenegro 17/20; Italy 5/8.
Rebounds: Montenegro 28; Italy 25.
Balls recovered: Montenegro 16; Italy 8.
Lost balls: Montenegro 18; Italy 23.
Assist: Montenegro 15; Italy 15.
Referees: Yilmaz (Turkey), Somos (Greece), Tsvetkov (Bulgaria)
Commissioner: Giorgi Piperkov (Macedonia)