Sabine Niedola got Latvia off to a good start with back to back baskets off fast breaks (4-0). Both teams then went defensively for a couple of minutes with the only points coming from the free-throw line.
Latvia then accelerated the pace and opened a 10-point lead (13-3). England was not able to get anything going offensively as the Latvian side put up an impressive defensive wall that kept England scoreless from the field for the duration of the first quarter. Latvia compiled an impressive (26-7) lead.

England’s first basket from the field came after 12 minutes of play as Tamzin Barrouilhet hit a trey.

All of a sudden England were rejuvenated which forced Latvia to react immediately. Both sides traded three-pointers at will for a while with Latvia maintaining the advantage (36-20).

Latvia’s three-point shooting was deadly as Anete Klintsone and Karine Nimane hit back to back treys to push the advantage to more than 20 points (45-20).

Latvia went back to defence and hit England on quick transitions that ended up in either three-pointers or lay-ups. They went into the interval leading (54-26).

Latvia continued to advance as England were kept out of scoring range for most of the third period. Hence Latvia went into the final period with a comfortable advantage (72-36).

The Latvian coach had the luxury of turning his bench as his side continued to dominate and stretch their lead (83-39). The English coach also decided to play her bench as nothing was going her way.

Latvia went on to win (89-48).

In double figures for Latvia were Ilze Gotfrida, Klintsone, Nimane and Laura Vetra with 16, 12 and 10 points respectively.

England’s top scorers were Kelsey Bardsley with 11 and Katrin Chiemeka with 10 points.

Finland bouncing back to beat Bosnia

Ana Niksic got the first points on the boards as Bosnia fouled her while going to the basket.

However it was Finland’s shooting from beyond the arc with Saara Väre, Johanna Lemmetty and Meri Eerikinharju all making early shots to take the lead (13-7).

Bosnia replied with 9 straight points to briefly regain the lead. But the game was tied (16-16) entering the final two minutes of the first quarter.

Finland won the basket-for-basket exchange to go in front (20-18) at the end of the first period.

The second quarter was played at a much slower pace with the lead changing hands six times as neither side was able to impose their style on the game.

Finland went into the locker room leading (36-35).

A complete change in attitude by both sides at the start of the second half resulted in end-to-end basketball in typical youth fashion with players and coaches contesting everything as they all tried to get the upper hand. Finland started the festival of three-points with Lemmetty and continued to hit from distance for the rest of the period.

Bosnia did most of their work on fast breaks and tied the game for the 10th time on the period ending buzzer (55-55) as Tamara Kapor hit a jump shot in the paint.

The two sides continued to play cat and mouse all round the court: Finland prefered to shoot from distance while Bosnia worked just outside the paint.

With just under four minutes to play Bosnia held the advantage (63-60). Yet they once again allowed Finland too much room and Suvi Hakkarainen hit a trey from the top of the arc to tie the game (63-63).

Bosnia did not learn their lesson and Lemmetty put another shot from the land of many as Finland regained the lead for good (66-63).

The last 29 seconds belonged to Finland as they controlled the situation perfectly with Kia Ignatious hitting 3-of-4 from the free-throw line to win the game (70-67).

Lelletty (no. 11) finished with 21 points including 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Ignatius (no. 7) joined her in double digits with 11 and Titta Lepistö (no. 13) scored 10 points.

Tamara Kapoor led the scoring for Bosnia with 19 points and Irena Vrancic joined her in double digits with 11 points.

Holland was made to sweat before beating Denmark

Denmark played a different offensive system to the one displayed the previous evening. This confused their opponents.

Yet The Netherlands had the better start and led after the early exchange (6-4). Denmark's response was to switch to a zig-zag cross play that forced the Dutch players to start running all over the court.

Denmark scored 10 quick points off this tactic (14-6). The Netherlands struggled for the rest of the period and were trying to work out the Danish offensive. They only survived the onslaught due to their height advantage.

Ida Preetzmann led the Danish offence and scored 9-of-20 of her team's points as they held on to the lead (20-14) at the end of the first quarter.

The Netherlands switched to zone after the break which slowed Denmark down. Maaike Klein completed the Dutch recovery as she nailed a three-pointer (23-22).

Natalie van den Adel came up with a couple of individual actions that took the Dutch side into the interval with an 8-point lead (34-26).

Denmark played another offensive system at the start of the third period which created space for them to either drive to the basket or shoot. By the time Ida Krough performed a reverse spin left-hand lay-up (34-38), Denmark was right back into the game.

The Netherlands required individual exploits by Adel and Karen von den Nieuwendijk to keep Denmark at bay (43-38). This was not enough as Denmark were playing yet another system. They started to press more and more which resulted in normally Preetzmann or Emilie Hesseldal scoring.

The Dutch coaching staff called for a time-out and explained to their players what they wanted them to do. It worked as they scored the last 4 points of the period to go into the final period in front (49-44).

It is difficult to describe what offence Denmark played. But it was exciting to watch and difficult to play against. Denmark punished their opponent's turnovers with points with Preetzmann tying the game (55-55) with just under five minutes to play. She was fouled in the process and hit her free-throws to give Denmark the lead (56-55).

The last four minutes was typical of youth basketball as both sides were running up and down the court and falling all over the floor. This tactic suited the Dutch team.

The Dutch skill in fast breaks, mixed with excellent three-point shooting allowed them to score 13 straight points (68-56) to make the game safe.

The Netherlands went on to win (71-58).

Nieuwendijk led the scoring for The Netherlands with 19 points. She also had 20 rebounds. Marianne van der Hoek chipped in 17 points and also picked up 10 rebounds in an unselfish display.

Preetzmann led Denmark with 25 points while Hesseldal finished on 17 points.

Ireland won first match of the tournament

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