France go eight podiums in a row after beating Hungary to bronze

LJUBLJANA (Slovenia) - France continued their impressive medal streak at the FIBA Women's EuroBasket as they left the 2023 edition with bronze after dominating Hungary 82-68 in Ljubljana.

A blistering first half left Hungary trailing in their wake and broke the dreams of their opponents who had been searching for their first podium step since 1991.

Turning point: Hungary were super competitive in the opening five minutes and led 7-6 but within minutes had collapsed. A sparkling inside-outside show from France saw them put a jaw-dropping 20-1 run on their opponents and take complete control. Hungary never recovered and a valiant late surge was never likely to be able to overturn the big deficit.

TCL Player of the Game: Mamignan Toure chose a good time to post her best scoring return of the tournament as the guard finished with 20 points. She also became the first French player to ever score six triples in a game at the event.

Stats Don't Lie: The bench scoring comparison was mind-blowing with France prospering from 41 points compared to just 2 for Hungary.

Bottom line: France were excellent and it was by far their best display of the tournament. They moved the ball with more fluidity than previously they signed off by showing their best face. The return of Iliana Rupert certainly helped, but it really was a strong team performance - as evidenced by the bench scoring. 

Hungary will be very disappointed than an otherwise super competitive and breakthrough tournament ended with a heavy defeat and below par performance. They just didn't deal with France effectively and maybe the size of the occasion also impacted them too. Their best run came near the end when the result was not realistically in doubt. 

They said: "As a team we are really happy that we got to get the medal. It is never easy to step back after a tough loss against Belgium. We had to all get together to get this medal. We are happy since it's a new group, it's a new staff and it is the beginnning of something. I think this medal is just the start." France center, Iliana Rupert

"I want to say I am really proud of our team because we did a really good job during this tournament. I know we are sad because we couldn't get a medal. But I know after a few days, it will be better because we finished in the fourth place and we were not there at the competition two years ago." Hungary Forward, Virag Kiss

 
FIBA