Georgia, Malta set to meet in championship showdown

ANDORRA LA VELLA (Andorra) - Georgia and Malta are set to compete for the title at the FIBA U18 Women's European Championship, Division C on Sunday.

Georgia will be looking for their first title at this event, while Malta will be going for their first gold since 2007 after being runners-up in 2018 and 2019.

In the first Semi-Final game on Saturday, Georgia inched past Albania 58-56, led by Lika Kvirkvelia, who recorded another huge double-double with 16 points and 23 rebounds, and Salome Svani, who finished as the game's top scorer with 23 points along with 11 rebounds and 3 assists.

Anisa Bokrina, who currently leads the tournament in assists, put up a nice stat line of 17 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals in defeat.

Georgia, the 2019 bronze medalists, outrebounded Albania 61-39 which also led to them doubling up Albania in second chance points.

Albania only got to the free-throw line twice, shooting 1-of-2, while Georgia were able to knock down 10 shots from the charity stripe.

Georgia's opponent in the Final, Malta, were able to take down hosts Andorra in the second Semi-Final, 84-48.

Malta only held a four-point advantage after one quarter, but they soon picked up their level of play and outscored Andorra 28-13 in the second quarter to take a 19-point lead into halftime. There was never a doubt after that.

Danika Galea, currently the tournament's top scorer, led all scorers with 20 points along with 8 rebounds on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting from the field.

The losers of the Semi-Finals games, Albania and Andorra, will meet in the Third-Place game on Sunday that will take place before the Final.

FIBA