On Saturday evening, the women’s national team played the second game of the 2027 Eurobasket Qualifiers. On the road against Israel (the game was played in Riga, Latvia), Luxembourg played well and was close to upset the favorite but in the end, Israel managed to win the game 65:77.
After a convincing 69:53 victory against Ireland to start the Qualifiers , the team of head coach Patrick Unger knew that the challenge against Israel would be a completely different one.
The FLBB squad had a a great start into the game with 7 players scoring in the first quarter. Behind Isi Etute’s 8 first quarter points, Luxembourg led 21:19 after 10 minutes. In the second quarter, Israel went on a run behind mutliple three pointers and opened up a double digit lead. However, Luxembourg reacted well and competed to enter the break with a 35:43 deficit.
In the second half, Luxembourg played extremely well to come back into the game point by point. Anne Simon gave Luxembourg the lead on a 3 pointer with 8 minutes remaining. In thrilling final minutes, Israel had the better finish and came out victorious in this game.
Great performance by our ladies! Unfortunately, it was not enough to grab the victory on the road. Anne Simon (18 points) and Isi Etute (16 points) had good performances for Luxembourg in a strong overall team effort. In the end, the final results seems much clearer than it was on the court.
Head coach Patrick Unger: „There could have been more in it today. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to implement our defensive game plan in the first half. Offensively, we need to make some adjustments. But that’s all within reason. This game showed us that we can compete and that we already have a very good mentality. We played well against a team that is very experienced in Eurobasket tournaments. We need to draw our energy from this for the upcoming game. »
game stats –> game stats Israel – Luxembourg
We encourage the Luxembourgish basketball community to visit the women’s game on Tuesday evening at the Coque in Kirchberg against Bosnia Herzegovina.
Results and upcoming games in group A
Ireland – Luxembourg 53:69
Israel – Luxembourg (in Riga, 20:00) 77:65
November 18th: Luxembourg – Bosnia Herzegovina (19:00)
–> Ticket presale for the game Luxembourg – Bosnia on November 18th!
Other results from the group:
Bosnia Herzegovina – Israel 91:98
Ireland – Bosnia Herzegovina 94:67
Standings in group A
Israel (2 wins, 0 losses) –> 4 points
Luxembourg (1 win, 1 loss) –> 3 points
Ireland (1 win, 1 loss) –> 3 points
Bosnia-Herzegovina (2 losses) –> 2 points
2 Luxembourgish referees were in action on Saturday as well. Lynn Weiwers and Hande Oztürk were nominated to guide games in the qualifiers.
