Bulgaria Claim First Victory

Radoslava Bachvarova led Bulgaria with 19 points on 3 of 3 from outside the arc

Bulgaria snapped their six-game losing streak in the EuroBasket Women Qualification Round with a 67-60 triumph over Germany on Wednesday in Pravetz.

In a Group D battle pitting national teams with no chance of reaching next year's Final Round in France, Jose Maria Buceta's players got their noses in front to stay with 13 minutes remaining.

Jaklin Zlatanova hit a pair of free-throws and then made a lay-up for a 49-46 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

Then in the early in the last frame, Vera Perostiyska hit a jump shot and then sank two free-throws for a 53-46 Bulgaria lead.

Germany got no closer than five points the remainder of the game.

Radoslava Bachvarova led the Bulgarian scoring parade with 19 points and Daniela Peteva finished with 13.

Perostiyska walked off the court with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Bulgaria were nine of 16 from behind the arc, and Bachvarova hit all three of her attempts.

Peteva also connected on three of five from long range.

The Bulgarians also did a good job of getting to the line where they sank 12 of 18 free-throws.

Germany made all of their free-throws but only attempted four.

Romy Bar scored 22 points, corralled 11 rebounds and handed out four assists in defeat.

The Germans, who played at the EuroBasket Women last year in Poland, dropped t o 3-4 in the Qualification Round.

Quotes Bulgaria vs. Germany

Bulgaria player Daniela Peteva
"We are pleased; this win is only for us. Unfortunately we couldn't qualify, but we will try next year. We won today and showed that we still have self-confidence and pride. Today we played well in defense and that was the key for the win."

Bulgaria head coach Jose Maria Buceta
"We have one more game, than we will make analyses. But the good thing is that our team today showed heart. It is hard to do this when you have lost all the games before. It is easier to give up and to start thinking of going home. But the players today showed that they have pride, they played for their country and won. We have the opportunity to win another game in the last game."

Germany head coach Andreas Wagner
"Bulgaria really deserved to win today - they wanted it more than we did. We allowed too many points - almost 70 - which is not good for our defense. We had good moments in the game, but we played bad in defense and we had some open shots but we couldn't make them. We had a bad percentage, it was hard for us - hot, we were guests."

Germany center Katharina Fikiel
"We tried our best, we didn't go to the basket too much, we wanted to win. But the Bulgarians had more rebounds, played better in defense, we made more fouls than them. It was very hot, it was special for us, but it is a game, sometimes it happens this way."