MISKOLC (Hungary) - The final day of the U16 Women's EuroBasket 2024 saw history made as Finland won their first EuroBasket title of any kind, beating out the accomplished France in a big day for Finnish basketball.
Key Storylines
Finland win their first ever EuroBasket tournament of any kind by winning the title.
Spain wrap up Third Place Game for bronze.
Montenegro will drop to Division B after coming up short against Croatia
Final
Finland were able to claim the title and stop a France three-peat with a 49-47 victory. It was clear they wanted to slow the game down and make it physical to stop France getting into rhythm.
The game remained tight throughout and came down to the clutch. France had the opportunity to win or tie the game, inbounding with 14 seconds remaining on the clock while down two, but their attempted lay-up bounced out to create history for Finland. In the process, Finland completed a perfect campaign going unbeaten throughout.
Finland were led by Jessi Nenonen who had 13 points and 6 rebounds and were able to overcome a double-double from the MVP Kathy-Emma Otto of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Top Performers
Off the back of her 32-point performance, Israel's Maya Zilbershlag continued to finish the tournament out strongly with a double-double of 26 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists for an efficiency rating of 30.
Lilli Schultze also finished her campaign strongly, dropping her second performance of 20 plus points with 25 as well as 8 rebounds and 2 assists for a 27 efficiency rating as Germany confirmed a seventh place finish.
Collecting her third double-double of the tournament, Helena Danielewicz ended sixth in tournament rebounding thanks to performances such as her 15 points with 14 rebounds against Israel, also chipping in 3 blocks for a 26 efficiency rating. Kathy-Emma Otto rounded off an MVP campaign with a double-double in the Final of 13 points and 10 rebounds, also grabbing 7 steals for an efficiency rating of 26 as her nation were so close to an unprecedented three-peat.
Belgium's point guard Jada Lynch finished on a tournament-high 22 points, also contributing 5 rebounds and 5 assists with a 23 efficiency rating as her nation secured a fifth place finish.
Results of the Day
Final Finland 49-47 France
Third Place Game Italy 38-80 Spain
Classification Game 5-6 Belgium 86-52 Slovenia
Classification Game 7-8 Hungary 69-73 Germany
Classification Game 9-10 Latvia 62-56 Serbia
Classification Game 11-12 Poland 64-60 Israel
Classification Game 13-14 Croatia 59-56 Montenegro
Classification Game 15-16 Greece 72-66 Sweden
FIBA