The women’s basketball team of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) qualified for the European Championship.
Yesterday, with the victory of 67:62 against Switzerland, the Dragons achieved one of the greatest successes in our basketball history and placed themselves at the European Basketball Championship (EuroBasket).
The head coach Goran Lojo could not count on Marica Gajic, Jonquel Jones, and Tamara Kapor, but even such a weakened team of Dragons showed character and achieved great success.
During the first half, the Dragons only managed to equalize two times (5: 5, 9: 9), and the first 10 minutes of the match were concluded with a minimal lead of the Switzerland team, 13:14, Radio Sarajevo writes.
In the second quarter, the result was tied and the first half ended in favor of the Swiss – 32:29.
As for our team in the first half, Courtney Hurt was the most efficient player with 10 points, while Evita Herminjard led the team of Switzerland (15 points).
At the beginning of the second half, Switzerland started furiously and for the most of the third quarter took the lead. The advantage was five points.
However, the Dragons managed to consolidate and take the lead towards the end of the quarter (27th-minute score 44:42).
By the end of the third quarter, the result was 48:48.
In the last quarter, the result seesaw continued.
Basket after basket was played, and our team took the lead with a score of 59:54.
When they were expected to break the match, the home players came back and reached a point behind (59:58).
Fortunately, we quickly regain a more noted advantage. Courtney Hurt hits two heavy shots in a row for 65:58 a minute and a half before the end. Fora and Toumi then reduced the score to 65:62, but that was all from the Switzerland team.
In the end, the Dragons won with a score of 67:62.
In a real drama that occurred in the last three minutes, Goran Loja’s team was better and won a place at the EuroBasket, thus repeating the success of 22 years ago.
The women’s basketball team of BiH last time played at EuroBasket in France in 1999.