Slovakia, Romania start with a bang

AUSTRIA (FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2018, Division B) – Slovakia and Romania headlined the opening day of action at the FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2018, Division B with impressive victories to get their promotion campaigns off on a positive note.

The Milan Cernicky-coached Slovaks torched Kosovo with a 112-31 scoreline in Group D, as Katarina Knappova led the scoring effort with a game-high 18 points and 7 rebounds. Having enjoyed contributions from all across the roster, Slovakia finished with seven players in double figures, while Kosovo had none.

In the other games in the group, Belarus topped the neighboring Ukraine 80-52 behind a 24-point, 15-rebound, 4-assist, 4-steal and 3-block effort by Kseniya Malashka, and Luxembourg surprised Norway 61-30.

Belarus got the start they were looking for against Ukraine

Having celebrated a 115-39 victory over Georgia in Group A, Romania were Friday's other big winners in the tournament, with Laura Vaida leading the way with 23 points and 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes of playing time.

Sara El Khasane Bejedi flirted with a triple-double, as Finland started their campaign by routing Cyprus 94-45, while Portugal inscribed an 80-51 win over Iceland.

Elsewhere, the Malene Pedersen-led Denmark got things off the ground in Group C with a momentous 75-65 win over Turkey, with Pedersen scoring 22 points in the tournament-opener.

Malene Pedersen helped Denmark defeat Turkey on the first day of the tournament

Their group rivals Montenegro also enjoyed a positive start, downing the Netherlands 52-39, but the tournament hosts Austria dropped the ball in their first contest and picked up a 53-50 defeat against Great Britain.

The trio of Israel, Lithuania and Greece rounded out the list of opening-day winners on Friday in Group B. Israel picked apart Switzerland for an 87-45 win, the Lithuanians defeated Bulgaria 84-67, while the Greeks forced Albania into submission with an 87-50 victory.

FIBA