Last week the preliminaries for the 2025 EuroBasket women’s
championship kicked off. This is the 40th edition of the competition
held since 1938, which will be hosted by four countries: the Czech Republic, Germany,
Greece and Italy. Romania plays in Group F alongside Iceland, Slovakia and
Turkey.
In the first match played at home in Constanța, Romania
defeated Iceland 82-70. The top scorer for Romania was Alina Podar with 14
points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists. In the other Group F fixture, Turkey defeated
Slovakia 75-40.
Romania next took on Slovakia, also at home, the visiting
side winning 93-77. Slovakia took the lead in the third quarter, which it won
with an 11-point difference. The best player for Romania was Ana Vîrjoghe with 20
points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists. In the second Group F fixture, Turkey won
72-65 against Iceland.
Turkey leads the Group F standings with 4 points, followed
by Slovakia with 3 points and Romania with 3 points, although with a negative
goal-average compared to Slovakia. Iceland is ranked 4th with 2
points. Romania will play its final fixture on November 7, 2024 against Turkey
away from home. The winner of each preliminary group will advance to the final
tournament, with the exception of Group I, alongside the four second-best
ranked team in each group. Romania hosted the European Basketball Championships
in 1966 as well as in 2015, jointly with Hungary. The best result for the
Romanian women’s team was 4th pace in the 1962, 1964 and 1966
editions. (VP)