ORCHIES (EuroBasket Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - The fans in France have witnessed some of the most exciting games in the history of the EuroBasket Women the past fortnight.
Spain edged France in a 70-69 thriller on Sunday night to capture their first gold medal since 1993, with Turkey having pulled away from Serbia in the second half in the battle for third place earlier in the day.
Numerous players contributed to a terrific event, but the contributions of five have received special recognition.
Spain's Sancho Lyttle and Alba Torrens were named to the All Tournament team, along with France’s Celine Dumerc and Isabelle Yacoubou, and Sweden’s Frida Eldebrink.
Lyttle, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the EuroBasket Women, led all players in scoring average (18.4 ppg), rebounding (11.1rpg) and steals (2.9 spg), while Torrens, who suffered a torn ACL and had to miss the Qualification Round, bounced back to average 16.2 points.
Both were keys for a Spain side that had to rebound from the shock of 2011 when the national team came up short of the Quarter-Finals and failed to reach the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women.
"It was a really hard two years," Torrens said to FIBA.com.
"I'm thinking about all that I've gone through.
"I went into this tournament with good feelings and just forgot about my knee."
Dumerc underlined her status as one of France's greatest ever players, rescuing Les Bleues in their Quarter-Final against Sweden.
Having spent much of the contest on the bench in foul trouble, Dumerc entered the game late in the fourth quarter and first hit a game-tying three-pointer and then buried a go-ahead three-ball.
She made a third shot from the arc to cap a magnificent finish for France.
The team, which got inspired play from Yacoubou throughout the event, brushed aside Turkey in the Semi-Finals but came up just short against Spain, although the home crowd cheered wildly for the players during the medal ceremony in a bid to lift their spirits.
Sweden and Eldebrink were downright sensational at times in the competition, upsetting Russia and nearly knocking off the French.
Eldebrink had played professionally in the country for Bourges before cutting short her 2012-13 campaign to have a wrist operation.
The rehabilitation went well and Eldebrink ended up averaging 15.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
She and Sweden weren’t able to claim one of the qualification places for next year’s FIBA World Championship, but the national team showed itself to be a rising power.
The sides that did seal berths for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey were Spain, France, Serbia, Belarus and the Czech Republic.
