Azerbaijan claim Division C title, Gokchol named MVP

ANDORRA LA VELLA (Andorra) - Azerbaijan have been crowned winners of the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2023, Division C after beating hosts Andorra 57-45 in the Final on Sunday.

After trailing at the end of the first quarter, Azerbaijan quickly got things going and opened up their lead thanks to an 18-6 second quarter. They never trailed again as they went on to secure their first title at the event.

Ela Nur Gokchol - who was named tournament MVP - and teammate Shilan Akbingol combined for 34 points for Azerbaijan as the duo headlined the All-Star Five. Gokchol finished with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, while Akbingol put up an impressive 15 points and 25 rebounds.

Shilan Akbingol, Seda Gabrielyan, Ela Nur Gokchol, Salome Svani, Andrea Cobo

Andrea Cobo had a bittersweet ending to her tournament as Andorra missed out on a gold medal, but she was named to the All-Star Five after posting a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds along with 4 assists in the Final.

Salome Svani of Georgia showed out again with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists in a 51-46 victory against Malta in the Third Place Game and earned her spot in the All-Star Five as the event's leading scorer with 35.6 points per game.

Meanwhile, in the Classification Game for 5th place, Albania came back to defeat Armenia 65-60 after trailing by as many as 8 points at halftime thanks to Emily Tershalla's huge 14-point, 17-rebound, 7-steal performance.

Seda Gabrielyan closed her tournament on a high note for Armenia in defeat with another monster stat line of 33 points, 16 rebounds, 10 steals and 5 assists and was rewarded for her outstanding performance throughout the entire tournament with a spot in the All-Star Five.

Moldova ensured they wouldn't finish in last place after taking down Gibraltar 48-25 for their first win of the tournament behind Irina Nebesnaia's collection of 21 rebounds to go with 4 points and 3 steals as they took 7th spot.

Final Standings

1. Azerbaijan
2. Andorra
3. Georgia
4. Malta
5. Albania
6. Armenia
7. Moldova
8. Gibraltar

FIBA