Dutch and Hillsman Advance to Qualifying Round
8/6/2011 7:18:14 PM | Women's Basketball
OREDEA, Romania – Syracuse University head women's basketball coach Quentin Hillsman and the U18 Netherlands National Team moved to 2-1 at the U18 European Women Championships. After defeating the Czech Republic 81-69 in their opener, the Dutch went on to defeat the Slovak Republic, 49-42, before losing to France, 67-60. Hillsman is serving as an assistant coach on the Netherlands U18 National Team.
The Netherlands advanced to the Qualifying Round and will play Serbia on Monday, August 8.
Game Recaps
Netherlands 60, France 67
France won the battle for first place in Group D by defeating the Netherlands, 67-60, on the third day of the Preliminary Round.
France has made a trademark with their slow starts in this competition, and they were down by two points and the end of the first ten minutes of play.
Everything went in their favor in the second period though.
The French defense forced a lot of turnovers, on the other side of the court the shots kept dropping in and the second quarter score was a brilliant 20-3 that almost sealed the game.
The Dutch however never gave up and they climbed back from a 16-point deficit at halftime, 36-20, to level the score at 48-48 in the beginning of the fourth quarter, after five consecutive points by Kourtney Treffers.
The scoreboard stayed frozen for the next two minutes, before Esther Moisan Niamke scored one of her four 3-pointers to give France the lead for good.
The Netherlands made it a two-possession game with 2:21 to go, but the French did not allow them a shot at the win.
Niamke and Margaux Galliou had 12 points apiece for the winners while Gabrielle van den Bosch scored 19 points for The Netherlands.
Both teams advanced to the Qualifying Round.
Netherlands 49, Slovak Republic 42
The Dutch didn't follow up on their excellent game on the first day and saw themselves down by five points after four minutes, 7-2.
But they raised the tempo and the team started to work on all cylinders.
Loyce Bettonvil's presence at the offensive end of the court was felt immediately and, in the second quarter, the Netherlands transformed a five-point deficit to a five-point lead, 25-20, after a 12-2 run.
The Slovaks didn't have the chance to get back and they were trailing by at least 10 points for almost the rest of the game.
Bettonvil was once again the leading scorer for the Dutch side, with 12 points, this time the same as Richelle van der Keijl. They had almost identical stats, adding eight rebounds and one assist each to their contribution.
Angelika Slamova was the go to player for Slovakia, with 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals, but committed also five turnovers.
Slovakia shot only 16 percent from the field and had a nightmare from the 3-point line, with only one shot made from 24 attempts.
Netherlands 81, Czech Republic 69
Bettonvil scored nine of her 20 points in the fourth quarter, including two huge 3-point shots to secure the win. The last of her two 3-pointers gave the Netherlands a 72-67 lead that proved to be enough to seal the game.
Kourtney Treffers scored 13 points and added seven rebounds in only 16 minutes spent on the court with a staggering 83.3 field goal percentage.
The Netherlands outrebounded the Czech Republic, 46-37, and shot 51.2 percent (21-41) from the field.
Monika Satoranska carried the Czech team with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists and Tereza Vyoralova added 15 points.
Neither of the teams managed to build a lead bigger than nine points during the first three quarters.
