The moment of truth has arrived for Latvia’s women as they carry an impressive run at the EuroBasket Women into a quarter-final showdown against France in Chieti.

A side that is best known for the dynamic, full-court play of backcourt duo Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Gunta Basko, the Latvians will encounter a French group that has played some of the best defense in the tournament.

There is only one certainty going into this game and that is that Latvian coach Ainars Zvirgzdins will have the attention of his players from the opening tip.

Zvirgzdins doesn’t hesitate to pull players out of the game after mistakes and he always gives a quick lecture on what the action of each should have been.

“Sometimes you just have to shut it down,” laughed Latvia center Ieva Kublina, a frequent target of Zvirgzdins’ outbursts.

“You hear, but you don’t hear. You play hard, and that’s all you can do.”

France coach Jacques Commeres, like his Latvian counterpart Zvirgzdins, is also clearly feeling the pressure and he goes into the quarter-final clash uncertain as to how his team will perform.

When asked after Wednesday night’s win over Serbia if he felt his team had improved game-by-game, he answered: “I hope so, but it’s very difficult to say.

		Dumerc will have the task of containing Jekabsone-Zogota.

“Tomorrow (Thursday), each team that reaches the quarter-final plays only one game.

“It’s very difficult to arrive at this level, and when you play the quarter, you must realise one good game.

“For us, if we play like that on defense, at the same level, it’s interesting. But we need to improve our offense every time.”

The players are clearly aware of the offensive shortcomings because it is always a point of discussion, but Serbia coach Jovica Antonic said: “The France team has a very good system on offense and defense, they play mostly under the basket, penetrate and the (use their)big players.

“Shooting? You can shoot (well) one day good, the other day not so good. If they reach that balance, though, they are very good outside and inside.”

Last Result: Latvia defeated Germany 60-47, France beat Serbia 68-60

Key Matchup: Latvia’s Jekobsone-Zogota v France’s Celine Dumerc- Jekobsone-Zogota is an offensive machine who has been one of the best players in the tournament. There is no better ball-hawker in the French backcourt than the lightning quick Dumerc and she will know how Jekobsone-Zogota likes to play as they were once team-mates at Bourges.

Key Stat: The least amount of action France guard Audrey Sauret-Gillespie saw before Wednesday’s game against Serbia was 25 minutes in a Group C game against Italy. The  guard logged just 15 minutes against Serbia after getting hit in the head and requiring three stitches to close a cut. Reduced minutes against Latvia would have an impact on proceedings. Whether that will be detrimental to the French cause remains to be seen.

X-Factor: Zane Tamane. The 1.94m center gets no headlines for Latvia but she excelled against Germany, blocking two shots for Latvia. She will need to stand tall against an imposing French frontline.

Speaking out: “It’s a quarter-final, a little stressful for everyone, but if we play defense as we did tonight (against Serbia) and before, I think we can win. We have to be careful of everybody in that team because everybody can be dangerous.”- Sandra Le Drean