Italy won their first EuroBasket Women game since 1999 with an impressive 65-55 triumph over Greece on Tuesday in Chieti.

Bolstered by their gritty performance against Russia, which the Italians lost 60-55, the Azzurre prevailed with Kathrin Ress pouring in 16 points and corralling 12 rebounds.

She also came up with two steals and blocked two shots for the victors.

		Italy used a smaller, quicker line-up to counter Anastasia Kostaki and Greece.

“We played as a team,” Ress said, “and I believe we made a statement to Europe that we are a confident team and a growing team.”

Gianni Lambruschi, the Italy coach, might have opted to attack the smaller Greeks with his big center Dubravka Dacic.

Instead, he used a quicker line-up with Ress responsible for doing most of the hard work on the boards.

The coach also confused his opponents by continually switching defenses.

Italy clearly grew in self-belief after their battle against Russia, when they tied the game early in the fourth quarter and harassed them into making 23 turnovers in the contest.

“I think we felt good because we competed against the strongest team in Europe,” Ress said, “but we were confident.

“We stayed on the floor with them. We have been struggling in the past years, and to be able to compete was a plus.

“When you lose, you are never happy, it did give us confidence.”

Ress, who had 10 points and seven rebounds in the first half when Italy led by as many as 12 points, made her biggest buckets after the break.

Greece scored six straight points to close the gap to 38-35 early in the third quarter, and Ress hit back-to-back jump shots to reclaim the momentum for Italy.

Then late in the fourth quarter, Greece reeled off seven consecutive points to pull to within 58-54.

Ress, with 2:18 showing on the clock, found herself open and buried a 14-footer.

Greece’s hopes then all but died immediately after when Olga Chatzinikolaou missed a pair of free throws and Italy rebounded.

“We just don’t have many tall players, and this hurts,” said Greece coach Konstantinos Missas. “But congratulations to Italy. They played much better than us. We were not mentally prepared to face that game.”

The Greeks have now suffered two defeats at the EuroBasket after their opening day setback against France, and at no time have they found any rhythm on offense.

Anastasia Kostaki, the Greek playmaker who had 13 points and three assists, said: “I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses, but we  try so hard on defense, because we are short, and we need to try so much harder, and afterwards, it’s harder on  offense.”

Italy face France in their final Group C game while Greece take on Russia.

EuroBasket Women hosts Italy didn’t upset Russia, but they went pretty darn close, losing 60-55 in the best game of the tournament so far.

With inspirational defense and excellent home support, the Azzurre played their hearts out and even tied the team that captured the silver medal at last year’s FIBA World Championship early in the fourth quarter.

		Greece will need Maltsi at her best against Italy.

But the offensive struggles that plagued the Italians for the first three quarters continued to hurt them in the final period and Russia managed to do just enough to win.

The challenge for Italy will be to build on the strong defensive performance when they run onto the floor in Chieti to take on a Greece team that looked short on confidence in a 58-50 defeat to France.

Greece played hard, and in the words of French coach Jacques Commeres, “they are organized as well.”

But Greece coach Konstantinos Missas did not get the offense he needed from Evanthia Maltsi, his leading player.

Maltsi, he felt, played with passion on defense but too often lost her discipline when the Greeks had the ball.

Greece committed a lot of turnovers as well, something that Italy coach Gianni Lambruschi will have taken note of as full-court pressure could be the game-plan for the Azzurre.

It’s worth repeating. 

If there is one thing the Italians did well against Russia, they played great defense and challenged them on the boards.

Greece must be ready.

"Tomorrow is our tournament,” Missas said after the loss to France.

“We have to be prepared for a great game against Italy

Key Matchup: Laura Macchi v Maltsi. Both are great talents on offense. If Maltsi does have to guard Macchi and loses her concentration, Macchi will punish her by driving to the basket as she did against the Russians. Maltsi will be feeling the pressure to have a big game after a frustrating effort in the opening loss to France.

Key Stat: Greece turned the ball over 24 times against France, and Italy forced Russia to commit 23 turnovers.

X-Factor: Dubravka Dacic was just one of 10 (10%) from the floor against Russia, but the 1.98m center should have more success against the smaller Greeks if she is able to receive her passes on the low block. Greece must keep her away from the basket.

Speaking out: “We have to play our best game against Greece. We have to beat them, and the same against France. If we can play the same kind of defense that we played against Russia, I think we can make it (to the next round)” – Francesca Zara of  Italy