Russia captured their second continental championship and booked a spot in the 2008 Olympics by holding off Spain 74-68 in Sunday's final of the 2007 EuroBasket Women, but not before they nearly blew a 21-point lead.

Ilona Korstin led the way for Russia with 18 points while Tatiana Shchegoleva chipped in 14 points off the bench including the decisive lay-up with 13 seconds remaining after Spain had missed a chance to trim the margin to two points 10 seconds earlier.

As has usually been the case with Spain, they struggle to field post-players that can compete at the highest level which puts a lot of pressure on their perimeter players to carry the load. It remains to be seen how new coach Evaristo Pérez will handle that problem. Qualifying to the Olympics is all that’s demanded of this team and Beijing (or Italy if they fail to make it to the Olympics) will probably be the end for the successful generation of players born in 1976.