Germany Win Romania Battle To Stay Alive

Dorothea Richter and Germany came out on top in the Wednesday battle of Targoviste to maintain qualification hopes alive

Some deadly perimeter shooting by Anne Breitreiner and Romy Bar kept the faint qualification hopes of Germany alive after an impressive 75-64 road success in Romania.

While Sweden and Spain are still both red-hot favourites to advance in EuroBasket Women Qualification Round Group D, Germany is doing everything it can to line itself up in third spot and pounce should one of the two favourites slip up.

This was a vital win for Andreas Wagner and his team, with Breitreiner leading the way as usual, making four of five triples on her way to 18 points while Bar had 14 points and only missed out on a double-double by one rebound.

Germany was always in control despite the best efforts of Romania's marquee player Gabriele Marginean, who again proved to be the major threat with 20 points.

The final margin certainly didn't flatter the visitors with the home team scoring the last six points of the contest to add a little more respectability to the final scoreline.

Quotes Romania vs. Germany

Germany Head Coach Andreas Wagner
"Although the first half was tough, we managed much better in the second and that was the key of our victory. We started great the third quarter and we had an excellent percentage from the 3-point line. I'm proud of my team and its game in the second half. Our way to Eurobasket Women 2013 is still open and everything is possible in this crazy group D."

Romania Head Coach Dan Fleseriu
"It was a very tough game. Unfortunately, we couldn't play our game as we planned it in the locker room, many players didn't respect the tactical indications and I'm very disappointed for that. Maybe our losa in Sweden and the decrease of our chances of qualification affected the girls' confidence. The truth is that we played much worse than we've showed in all our previous games."

Germany player Romy Bär
"It was difficult for us to come back after we lost in Sweden, but we had to gain again our confidence and play like we did it before that game. Today we proved that we are able to play at a high level and that's what we need for the qualification."

Romania player Ancuta Stoenescu
"I'm very disappointed about our game. We played terrible on defence and that was the key of the game, that's why we lost."