Spain had to work hard  but they finally put away Croatia 63-52 on Wednesday night to complete a perfect Group D campaign and reach the next  phase of the EuroBasket with winning momentum. 

Amaya Valdemoro had a game-high 15 points and 11 rebounds for Spain, who will take on Italy in their first qualifying round game.

Croatia threatened to spring an upset after taking a 50-46 lead early in the fourth quarter but Spain went on a 17-2 run to finish the game with Marta Zurro, Laura Camps and Isabel Sanchez accounting for all of the points in that game-ending surge.

"We knew Croatia would play for pride having lost their previous two games," said Anna Montanana, who added 12 points for the victors.

"They really made us work but in the end we kept our focus, played strong defense and we got the win.

"This win will give us a big morale boost for our next game against hosts Italy."

Montanana scored eight points while Valdemoro pulled down eight rebounds as Spain built a 14-9 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Veteran center Sonja Kireta scored her team's next seven points to tie the game at 16-16 early in the second quarter before Lucila Pascua replied with four straight points to keep the Spaniards in front.

Emilija Podrug's consecutive layups gave Croatia a 25-22 lead with less than two minutes to go in the half.

However,  Spain went on a 9-2 run, with Valdemoro scoring five points in that burst, to go into the break with a 29-27 lead.

Neither team was able to pull away as they exchanged the lead over and over and went into the final  period level at 46-46.

Spain, who outrebounded Croatia 52-37, did enough in the end to prevail.

Spain coach Evaristo Perez has impressed upon his players the need to remain focused and play hard against Croatia even though the game has no implications on the Group D standings.

By beating Serbia on Tuesday, the Spanish clinched top spot while also condemning winless Croatia to fourth place.

		Sonja Kireta is capable of having a big game against Spain.

"Despite already securing our top spot in the group, we cannot have the luxury of taking one step back," said Spain guard Elisa Aguilar.

"We have to grow game by game and we will not take any game lightly."

Spain are not the biggest team at the EuroBasket but they are definitely one of the quickest.

This could cause problems for Croatia as they are likely to face some full-court pressure by the Spanish.

Last time out: Spain beat Serbia 79-76 and Croatia lost to Belarus, 92-66.

Key Match-up: Petra Stampalija v Amaya Valdemoro. Stampalija had a game-high 20 points against Belarus and will look to go out on a high while Valdemoro has yet to show her best and will be hoping to get on track in this tournament.

Key Stat: Croatia committed 33 turnovers against Belarus.

X-Factor: Sonja Kireta was quiet against Belarus but is capable of having a big game - something many of the Spanish players will know as Kireta was once on the books of EuroLeague Women outfit Ros Casares.

Speaking out: "It's going to be very difficult to bounce back from two consecutive defeats, especially considering our performance against Belarus.

"The only good thing is that I don't think we can play any worse than we did against Croatia.

"I know all the Spanish players having played in Spain and maybe this is an advantage when it comes to preparing for this game. But they also know me so it's going to be difficult," - Croatia center Sonja Kireta.