Jekabsone-Zogota leads Latvia win over Russia in Olympics' warm-up

Jekabsone-Zogota leads Latvia win over Russia in Olympics' warm-up


Latvia's Anete Jekabsone-Zogota notched up a game-high 34 points here on Saturday as her team romped past Russia 75-69 at 2008 FIBA Diamond Ball for Women, an Olympics warm-up.

The 1.76m Latvian forward also grabbed five rebounds and handed out four assists.

"We showed the best we can do," Jekabsone-Zogota told reporters.

"We start to believe we can beat the strongest team," she added. "We can do it."

Russia, a strong contender for the Beijing Olympics gold, is having one of its most successful periods ever.

At the 2006 World Championships in Brazil, Russia beat Spain and the United States on the way to losing to Australia in the final.

Latvia's head coach Ainars Zvirgzdins said his team's performance on defense took the credit for the win.

"It's a big success," he said at a news briefing, adding "the reason for our win is the good defense."

But he still regarded Russia as a very strong team and a tough rival at the Beijing Games, saying "this is only a warm-up."

"The Russians would do better," he added. "They would probably reach the finals at the Games."

The Beijing Games will be the second time that a Latvian team has competed in an Olympic basketball competition.

The current Latvian women's team booked its place at the Beijing Olympics after beating Angola by 58 points in the quarterfinal of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Madrid, Spain.

The win over Angola was the team's third of the tournament, giving them some much needed confidence and momentum ahead of the Olympic Games where they were drawn in a group with world champion Australia and European champions Russia.

Russia opened up the Diamond Ball with a tight match-up against Latvia, struggling to eke out a two points lead at the end of the first quarter, 14-12.

The Latvians overtook a 36-29 lead at half-time before the Russians rallied to fight back, cutting the deficit to one point in the third quarter, 51-50.

After Latvia's center Liene Jansone hit a three-pointer near the end of the fourth quarter, Jekabsone-Zogota scored a basket with 22seconds to play, sealing the win.

Igor Grudin, Russian head coach, attributed his squad's defeat to its defense.

"We have problems in defense," he said. "I'm not satisfied with the team's performance. I hope we will do better in the upcoming days."

The 2008 FIBA Diamond Ball for Women, the last major international basketball event before the Beijing Games, kicked off on Saturday.

It features Australia, Russia, reigning Olympic champion the United States, Asian champion China, African champion Mali. The latest addition was Latvia, that qualified for the Beijing Games in June.