Super Spanish Double For Sweden

Center Louice Halvarsson stood tall in Spain and led Sweden to victory with a double-double in points and rebounds

Sweden stands on the verge of booking their place at EuroBasket Women after securing a superb fifth straight victory and the second of the campaign against highly-fancied Spain, with a 79-73 success in Madrid.

The home team had been eager to avenge their somewhat surprise loss against their opponent last month and, boosted by the return of Sancho Lyttle, would have expected to be successful in that mission.

Instead, it turned out to be another disappointing evening for Spain coach Lucas Mondelo and his players, who must now look over their shoulder with Germany primed to punish any more errors from the group favourites.

That dimension is heightened by the fact Spain travel to Germany for their next fixture, in what is now a pressure game for both teams.

As for Sweden, they continue to realise their undoubted potential in what was another excellent team performance.

They took the initiative during the early stages with a 21-17 first quarter and always enjoyed the upper hand for the remainder of the game.

Much of that was down to Sweden controlling the boards with Louice Halvarsson claiming a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds while Elin Eldebrink had seven assists.

Quotes Spain vs. Sweden

Sweden Head Coach Lars Johansson
"We've still have some games to go after this win to qualify for the EuroBasket Women, but it looks good so far. It's been a tough game. We knew it before. It was a tough game but we managed to get the lead and to control it. We didn't really know how to understand the way they played but I think we did a good job. Rebounding was one of the most powerful differences in the game. We fought in the rebounds and we did a really good job. For the next game against Bulgaria we have to forget what we did tonight, and think on winning before even playing against them."

Sweden player Jennifer Stjärnström
"We played really great. We did what we were supposed to do and I think everybody did their job on defence and offense. I'm so happy with the possibility of qualifying to the EuroBasket Women next year. It's very special to the Swedish team. We played so good as a team. For the next game we want to do as well as in this game, we'll work on the things we've done well and be better as a team."

Spain player Amaya Valdemoro
"I had a special desire to win here. It's my home and it was the first official game that was played here, but we've lost because the rival was better. We have to congratulate Sweden because they played a great game. We weren't strong on defense and every mistake we've had, they knew how to punish it very well. They played perfectly in and out of the paint and theyread the game better than us. The game in Germany will be very difficult. I said before starting this tournament that the EuroBasket Women Qualification Round is very difficult."