Anete Jekabsone-Zogota collected 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals to lead Latvia to a convincing 76-46 victory over Lithuania in the Group E qualifying round.

Ieva Kublina added 16 points and Liene Jansone and Ieva Tare each chipped in 10 points off the bench as the Latvians improved to 2-1 in the group and the 1997 title-winners Lithuania dropped to 1-2.

Latvia led by 12 points at half-time and pushed the advantage to 23 points in the third quarter to put away their Baltic neighbours, who were led by Iveta Marcauskaite's 18 points

		The Latvian fans were out in force to support their team.

and 14 from Agne Ciudariene.

The Latvians out-rebounded Lithuania 41-27 while holding them to 34% shooting (17-of-50) and forcing 19 turnovers.

Ainars Zvirgzdins's side shot 47% for the game and committed just 12 turnovers - matching their tournament-best average.

"We prepared really well for this game. We played great defense, and that's what we have to continue to do for the rest of the tournament," said Jekabsone-Zogota.

Ciudariene struggled to find a reason for her team's showing: "We were sleeping in today's game. I don't know what happened to us. We played very bad defense and offense and clearly we must improve considering next opponent is the Czech Republic."

Latvia pulled ahead 7-2 only to have Lithunia score seven straight points to grab the lead 9-7 on Marcauskaite's three-pointer with 4:24 remaining in the first.

But the Latvians finished the first quarter on an 8-0 run, combining tough defense and two long bombs and a lay-up by Jekabsone-Zogota to lead 15-9 after one period.

Gunta Basko's basket made it 19-9 and completed the 12-0 run, which finally ended when Ciudariene scored Lithuania's first points in 6:55.

Algirdas Paulauskas's side trimmed the margin to five points - 23-18 - but Latvia closed the half on a 6-0 spurt to lead 35-23 going into the locker-room.

The Latvians proved to be a class better, executing their offense more proficiently and continually extending the lead up to 23 points at the end of three quarters - 57-34.

The Lithuanians trimmed the margin to 21 points - 65-44 - on Ela Briedyte's three-pointer with four minutes remaining, but Latvia drained three long bombs down the stretch to win by 30 points on Santa Dreimane's trey in the final minute.

Lithuania next face defending champions Czech Republic while Latvia take on Belgium.

The 1997 EuroBasket Women champions Lithuania and Latvia kick off their Group E qualifying round in Vasto with a Baltic battle of sides knowing the victors take the inside track of moving to next week's quarter-finals.

Lithuania have improved in each game, while the Latvians won their first two games but got a serious shot of reality against the Czech Republic.
 

		Zane Tamane will need to hit the boards hard if Latvia are to be successful.

Last Time Out: Lithuania collected their second straight victory by beating Germany 71-57 while the Latvians were pasted by the defending champions Czech Republic, 70-44.

Key Match-Up: Zane Tamane vs Iveta Marcauskaite: Tamane collected 11 rebounds for Latvia in their victory against Turkey but only seven combined in the following two games. Marcauskaite leads a tall and powerful front line for Lithuania which was out-rebounded against Romania and Germany. 

X-Factor: Gunta Gasko: While Anete Jekabsone-Zogota is clearly Latvia's main weapon (averaging a tournament-high 20.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, a tournament-best 4.7 assists and 1.0 steals), Gasko needs to play closer to her showing against Turkey-17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists-than her last two games where she has totaled nine points, five rebounds and four assists combined!

Stats: Latvia have committed an average of just 13 turnovers while Lithuania had 11 turnovers against Germany after games of 26 and 21 turnovers against Belgium and Romania, respectively.