Balanced Lithuania Thrash Netherlands

Gintare Petronyte dominated under the basket for Lithuania with 14 points and 13 rebounds and five blocks

The Netherlands hung around for the first 12 minutes of their EuroBasket Women 2013 Qualification Round opener at Lithuania on Wednesday but the Baltic side then pulled away for an 88-47 victory.

On top just 17-14 at the end of the first quarter after Dutch power forward Leonie Kooij hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, the Lithuanians took a firm grip on the encounter soon after.

Veteran guard Sandra Linkeviciene began the second frame with a three-point play after being fouled on a jump shot by Anouk Biesters.

Marina Solopova followed with a shot from the arc and Lithuania were on their way to a resounding victory.

With the visitors trying to remain within striking distance and trailing 29-19, Algirdas Paulauskas' side effectively knocked them out with an 11-0 run.

Gabriele Gutkauskaite sparked the decisive spurt with a three-pointer and Linkeviciene followed with a basket.

Giedre Paugaite, a 21-year-old center, then poured in four straight points for a 38-19 lead before Kristina Vengryte capped the run with a jumper.

Seven Lithuania players reached double figures in points in the contest, led by Gintare Petronyte's 14.

The big center also had 13 rebounds and five blocks - both game highs.

Lithuania, who shot 54.7% (29 of 53) from the field, also did well at the free-throw line.

They hit 25 of 30 attempts at the stripe while the Dutch were only six of nine.

Kooij scored a game-high 15 points in defeat.

Quotes Lithuania vs. Netherlands

Lithuania head coach Algirdas Palauskas
"There was a lot of chaos in our defence in the begining of the game. But it's understandable. It was the first official game, so the girls were a bit nervous. We found our game later, the girls started playing their game and we won. Our opponents are not a weak team. Two years ago we also won by about 40 points at home, but it was a very tough game on the road. Today they missed a lot of shots, but when they don't, they are very dangerous."

Lithuania center Gintare Petronyte
"We played as a team, there was a good team spirit from the first minute. The result doesn't reflect the game, we really had to fight hard."

Lithuania guard Marina Solopova
"We won by a big margin, there was good rotation, so we are happy. We still made a lot of mistakes, so we need to make conclusions in order to not repeat them against other teams. There were some good moments in our game and also some bad ones. Rome was also not built in one day, we are progressing."

Netherlands forward Leonie Kooij
"We played here two years ago and lost by 46 points. We wanted to prove ourselves and our fans, that we are better than two years ago. This game is a very big disappointment for us. We thought that we could play better than today. We did not play good on defense today and when the result was 20:17 we gave it away. Of course we want to qualify to the EuroBasket Women in France, but if we want to make it we have play much better than today."

Netherlands head coach Meindert van Veen
"It was a very bad day for us. I am really disappointed because I thought the players are further than what we saw today. We played here two years ago, but the result is almost the same. It is not good for us. Lithuania are one of the strongest teams in our group."