Finnish women put on a brave performance

Brave Finland battle against Israel

Finland 61 – 68 Israel

(18-22, 11-20, 9-15, 23-11)

De Lange Munte, Kortrijk – Belgium

After two weeks with the Finnish Men's International team – Basketballviews.com finally got the pleasure of attending a Finnish Women's game as well. The team has been training in Belgium for couple of days, in preparation for the EURO qualifying campaign. In yesterdays game the Finns were defeated by the host nation Belgium – and tonight they faced Israel in their second practise game in Belgium.

The Finnish team is a rather young team – and there are seven players in the roster who have played only about 20 international games so far in their career. So the team is more one for the future, as many players are still getting used to the international level of play. Of course there is the experience to balance this out, with Taru Tuukkanen having just played her 100^th international game for Finland, and Heta Korpivaara with 60 games to her name.

Minna Sten interview

Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site

Game it self started very brightly for the Finns, who clearly came into the game better prepared from the tip-off. First three shots from the Finns went through the hoop ( 2 – 2 – 3 ) and with Israel still finding their rhythm in the game – the Finns raced to a quick 10 points to 3 lead in the opening exchanges of the game. However the Israeli team quickly got themselves into the game, and over took the Finns with an 8 to 0 run – to give them 11-10 lead. One of Finland's brightest performers in the game, Dionne Pounds, shot a three pointer to give the Finns the lead once again at 14-11 – but this was soon wiped out by careless ball handling by the Finnish women – as they gifted Israel two easy baskets. Maija Lahde levelled the game for Finns at 16 points a piece.

Finns then showed some resilient defence and shut out the Israeli side for a good while – but in ability to score themselves, left the game still in the favour of the visitors. Finns gifted the ball to Israel on the last possession – and defended solidly, a fumble by the Finnish basket saw Katia Abramzon come up with the ball and sink a 'buzzer-beater' to leave the Finns chasing a four point game.

The two middle quarters of the game are something the Finns will want to learn from – as Israel outscored them 15 points in the twenty minute spell. It was the start of the second quarter that really left the Finns fighting an uphill battle, as the Israeli women raced to a 31 – 18 lead inside the opening two minutes of the quarter. Maiju Pekkarinen shot a three pointer to cut the gap, but an immediate reply from the player of the game Liron Cohen saw the gap re-established. Cohen was a constant threat to the Finnish defence, whether shooting the ball or creating space and opening for her team-mates.

Vilma Kesanen - interview

Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site

Another fumble at mid-court gifted two more points to the Israelis and the Finnish coach was left to call two quick time-out to get the girls back into the game. In the middle part of the game the Finnish defence was opened up too easily and there was too much space under the basket for easy lifts of two points.

The third spell of the game was bleak one for the Finns, only nine points scored in the 10 minutes – but it has to be said that their defence also stepped up to restrict the free-shooting Israel to only 15 points. The Finns field goal percentage was just barely over 30% - something which players themselves commented after the game to have been one of the deciding factors in the game (Israel on the other hand shot with a lmost 50% accuracy from the field).

In the final ten minutes of the game the Finns showed, what the Finns call 'Sisu'. Despite being twenty points down in the game – the girls on the court were giving their everything. And it was clearly paying off, with the Israeli team tiring out and Finns still finding fresh legs from the bench – the game was getting closer as the seconds ticked down on the clock.

Israel were forced to call couple of time-outs in the final spell, just to keep a calm head and not to let the lead slip away. And a final second two pointer from a quick Finnish attack saw the gap reduced to seven points in the end. A terrific end to the game that saw the Finns being the happier of the two teams when they left the court. A final quarter showed the Finns outscoring their opponents by 23 points to 11 – and despite the low scoring third ten of the game. The Finns actually came well on top in the second half of the game with 34 points to 26.

A second defeat it might have been for the Finns – but there was positives to take from this game as well. Finland showed that there was depth in the roster as their bench contributed almost 20 points in the game and rebounded as well as the starting five.

Dionne Pounds - interview

Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site

From the Finns – the players that caught my eye.

Dionne Pounds – having only played a hand-full of international games so far, Pounds was in good form and reached double figures in scoring. Little more accuracy to the shots, as she gets more games. Minna Sten, not up there with the on-court time – but still Finland's top scorer with 13 points. Vilma Kesanen, brought the ball up well and lead the Finnish game from the back – her three pointers at the end of the game were one of the reasons Finland clawed that much of the gap back.

From Israel, you can't pass Liron Cohen – 20 points and always a threat with the ball. Good passing skills and can shoot the ball from everywhere. Katia Abramzon, another player from the starting five – solid defending and knocked down the baskets when called upon.

For Finns it's now two friendly games against Latvia – and couple of days together in Finland before they play their opening EURO qualifying game against Turkey on the 5^th of August.

MVP of the game : Liron Cohen, Israel

Top Scorers:
Finland :

M.Sten 13p / Dionne Pounds 11p / Taru Tuukkanen 10p

Israel :

Liron Cohen 20p / Abramzon & Dori 14 points

Rebounds :

Finland :

Tuukkanen 11 / M.Sten 8

Israel :

Doron 7 / Galinski 6