The 2025 EuroBasket tournament started on Wednesday with half of the teams playing their first games. Teams are trying to finish in the top two of their four team groups to advance to the final stage, where they will compete for medals and a direct or qualification spot in the World Cup.
France
Reigning bronze medalists France are looking to win the gold medal for the first time since 2009 as they have had tough losses late in the tournaments since then. This year’s group was assembled with a new process that allowed players like Janelle Salaun to report to the team late instead of being present for the whole training camp. Even with those concessions, many of their WNBA players decided not to join the team and injuries knocked out some of the other players that they were hoping to have available.
Even with the absences, they were expected to be the clear favorites in this group hosted by Greece, but it did not look that way early against Turkey. They continued to battle though and did enough in the fourth quarter to secure a 71-69 win. Salaun was the leading scorer with 22 points and had 4 rebounds too in 27 minutes before fouling out of the game. Iliana Rupert had 10 points and 9 rebounds in 25 minutes and Migna Toure joined them in the starting lineup, contributing 8 points and 4 assists in 24 minutes.
Lithuania
It has been a decade since Lithuania has qualified for the continental championship, but they were looking to make noise in their return in a group hosted by Italy. They started the game well against a Slovenia team with much more recent history in the competition and held on to a 77-71 win. Juste Jocyte was their leading scorer with 17 points and added 6 assists in 31 points.
Italy
As the home team in their group, Italy closed out the entire day of games against Serbia, which is still a strong team even though they are still in the middle of a transition from their championship team of four years ago. Italy has had a long history in the competition, but are looking for their first truly successful tournament in a while.
They are not quite at full strength after a major training camp injury, but are hoping that the home crowd gives them the advantage to advance. They had an excellent performance in their opening game, building a lead by halftime on their way to an 80-71 win. Cecilia Zandalasini had game highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds, tying for the team high too with her 4 assists.
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