Spreafico Lights It Up In Luxembourg

Giorgia Sottana poured in 17 points for Italy, as the team advanced to a 5-1 record in Group E.

Laura Spreafico shot the lights out for Italy as they notched up a fabulous fifth straight win with a convincing 88-66 success in Luxembourg to move within touching distance of a place in France.

The 21-year-old was on fire from downtown and drained five triples from just six attempts, finishing with a team-high 19 points, to help put her team into a position of being just forty minutes away from a potential spot at Final Round next summer.

Having failed to find a win so far, the hosts have struggled to bridge the step up in class and were never likely to pose a great threat to the Italians.

Nevertheless, coach Roberto Ricchini and his new look team still had to take care of business and even more so when Luxembourg competed superbly during the opening quarter which Italy could only edge 20-19.

The extra depth of Italy came to the fore during the second quarter when they built up a significant enough lead to keep Luxembourg at arm's length - albeit with the home team producing one of their better performances.

Giorgia Sottana weighed in with 17 points and six assists for Italy while Lisy Hetting recorded 15 points for the losing team

Quotes Luxembourg vs. Italy

Luxembourg coach Hermann Paar:
"Just a few litle things at certain moments were missing to realize something big in this game. To see all the hard work during the last three weeks and to see how we played today makes us happy. It's a young team but we must keep on working and one day we will realize our dream - a victory over a better ranked opponent."

Luxembourg player Tessy Hetting:
"I'm proud and happy to play in this team. We played an excellent game despite our tiredness at the end of the game. We are not used to play at this level and I think that this fourth game in the last 12 days hurt us but we gave all and resisted a long time. It's unbelievable, we are learning a lot out of these games."

Italy coach Roberto Ricchini:
"I'm happy with the result but not with our playing style. Some players had a lack of concentration at the beginning of the game. The mentality was not strong enough. I just can congratulate Luxembourg who showed desire and determination. We must beat Greece on Wednesday to qualify for the final round 2013 in France."