83-75: France beat Spain to win their fifth European Under-20 title

The French team successfully defended their title at the European Women’s U-20 Championship this Sunday, beating Spain 83-75 in the final in Vilnius (Lithuania). Despite having chances, they could not recover from a poor second quarter and had to settle for the silver medal.

Ruben Burgos’ men started well, taking the lead thanks to the advantage of an inspired Our Pham, who contributed in points and rebounds and became the team’s main claimant after enjoying a maximum of 14 points, going 4-up in the fourth (20-24, 10 minutes).

France picked up after the restart: based on the improved toughness of their backs and better attacking decision-making, they managed to turn the score around after a partial start at 17-6, forcing the Spanish bench to call off duels to restructure their systems and stop the French attack.

Spain’s offensive output was halved from its first quarter, trailing 41-36 at halftime and scoring just 12 points. Awa Pham led the team to a berth in the finals with 15 rebounds and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

Forced to react, the Spaniards managed to turn the score around with a 4-12 score that reflected their growth after going through the locker room, but Manoé Cisse did the heavy damage for Gala with 21 points and three threes. He made no mistakes in his instructions and managed to reach the final ten minutes (59-53, 30 mins).

Nothing changed in the fourth quarter. Cisse continued to attack his rivals and came within six points in the final moments, but he was unable to complete a new comeback. France retained their title and won their fifth gold medal in the division, while Spain had to content themselves with silver, unable to claim their tenth crown, despite a great performance from Pham, who scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

In the third-place match, Italy defeated Germany, 70-48, to win the bronze medal.