Croatia beat Sweden 82-71 in EuroBasket Women qualification on Sunday in Solna.

Both sides have struggled so far in Group C. Sweden are bottom of the group and have yet to win a game while Croatia are now in third place with a 2-2 record behind Poland and Germany.

Ana Lelas came off the bench for Croatia to give her team an inspired performance against Sweden.

The 183 cm guard shot 7/9 from the field (including 2/3 from the behind the three-point line) for a team high 21 points.

Overall it was a polished offensive show from Croatia who shot 55% from the field and 86% from the free throw line.

The Croats hit their first six field goal attempts to race out to a 14-5 advantage and would in fact never trail.

Sweden managed to cut the lead to 4 points at the half, 41-37, but Croatia went on another scoring spree in the third period and the lead ballooned to 15 points, 65-50, at the 30-minute mark.

Sweden tried to turn the game around in the final 10 minutes, but the task proved too great and Croatia held on for the win.

Ann Andersson top scored with 22 points for Sweden who play Germany on Wednesday.

Croatia face Poland.