Women’s Eurobasket 2025: Analysis of the semifinals between Spain and France
The first quarter has already marked the rhythm: nothing was going to be easy in this semifinal.
Faced with an aggressive Spanish defense, the French lost six possessions at the beginning of the party. His rivals, meanwhile, had difficulty taking advantage of their offensive opportunities, leaving both teams tied after the first ten minutes (18-18).
Les Bleues advanced in the second quarter thanks to their defensive intensity and the rise of their captain, Vallianwho scored 13 points and 3 robberies. Despite the failures in Triple launches, France went to rest ahead (38-31).
The third quarter marked a turning point. Les bleues initially expanded the advantage at ten points ahead (43-33), but their inefficiency from the three-point line continued. France missed 25 releases of three and established a very hard record: in the last 112 games over the last 20 years, he had never erred more than 20 releases behind the line.
After five minutes of silence, Spain, led by the projuvable young pivot Awa fam He reversed the rhythm. The French suffered a hard defeat 8-18 in that period and found themselves at a disadvantage when they reached the last quarter (46-49).
The end of the game promised to be exciting, and it was. Promoted by their impetus and the experience of Alba Torrens (12 points), the Spanish achieved an advantage of up to five points six minutes from the end (50-55). But Les Bleues resisted: Valériane Ayayi’s free throws, followed by a basket Migna Touréallowed them to approach the score (56-58).
With greater success than the French from the three-point line, the Spanish recovered some margin (56-61). However, France found the resources to overcome once again: three free throws from Janelle Salaünfollowed by a distant shot by Romane Bernies, they gave Les Bleues the advantage again to 1:45 from the end (62-61).
The last seconds were spectacular. Spain recovered the advantage (62-65), Iliana Rupert failed another triple, but France recovered the ball. Romane Bernies He conducted two free throws 2.4 seconds from the end. He scored the first, intentionally failed the second (63-65), and France captured the rebound! The Spaniards committed a foul on Iliana Rupert, who approached the goal line with the opportunity to force the extension. He scored the first shot … but the second failed. And so, Spain won by a point (64-65).
