Home crowd roars Belarus to overtime triumph over Colombia in U17 Women's World Cup debut

MINSK (FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2018) - Belarus pulled out a memorable 79-75 win after overtime as they outlasted Colombia in a battle between two FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup debutantes.

The tournament hosts trailed by as many as 15 early in the contest, but battled back through a combined 47 points from Yuliya Vasilevich and Iryna Venskaya.

Vasilevich converted 18 of 20 attempts from the free throw line in hauling Belarus to victory with a 27-point display as well as adding 12 rebounds and 7 assists.

“It was a really good atmosphere - the fans were amazing and that really helped us through," said the 5ft 5in (1.66m) guard.

“It was a tough game and Maria Alvarez had a big game for Colombia - without her, the game would have been different.”

Alvarez was unfortunate to be on the losing side after pouring in an early tournament-high of 35 points with 10 threes - including her last to force the extra period.

Colombia had made a red-hot start with 25 points racked up in the opening seven minutes as their lead peaked at 15 points.

However, Belarus gradually clawed themselves back and a strong second period cut the deficit to just 3 points at the half-time break. They were level at the end of the third and moved ahead in the fourth with momentum and the vocal support of the crowd on their side.

Vasilevich kept knocking down free throws and Belarus looked in command at 67-61 with 19 seconds remaining, but Alvarez had found her range and sent down two more triples to send the game into overtime.

Belarus kept their composure and never trailed in the extra period, keeping Colombia at bay for good this time with Venskaya netting two decisive free throws to seal the win.

Only once before has a host nation made it onto the podium at the U17 Women’s World Cup and while Belarus face an uphill task to make a deep run, their hopes have received an early boost.

Vasilevich concluded: “We know that the other teams are strong, but our goal is to make it into the final 8.”

Tougher tests follow as Belarus round out the group phase with games against Japan and France.

 

FIBA