France’s Flying Start Continues

Céline Dumerc officially announced her arrival in France on Sunday night

By Joe Hewison

Turning Point: France were already leading by 17 when Celine Dumerc hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions late in the second quarter but it lifted the crowd and deflated the Serbian team in equal measure.

Stats Don't Lie: France led the way in all departments but really made Serbia pay for their mistakes, scoring 28 points from turnovers.

Game Hero: French favourite Celine Dumerc has officially arrived at EuroBasket Women. The point guard served primarily as a facilitator on day one but shot the ball more in this one, including two-from-three on long-range attempts, for 10 points in less than 19 minutes - to the delight of the home fans.

France Head Coach Pierre Vincent was pleased that his players took on the responsibility of shooting the ball in the 76-32 win over Serbia that booked their place in the second round of EuroBasket Women.

Vincent felt that some of his players felt burdened by the high expectations of the home crowd in their day one win over Latvia, and that stopped them from taking on shots from long-range when open.

But he was happier at the end of day two after France looked more comfortable in possession and made six of their 10 three-point attempts, as they eased to victory having taken the lead early.

"The difficulty for us sometimes is to control the tempo on offence," said Vincent.

"But today we played at a good tempo and also scored from outside. After that it is difficult to beat us.

"We scored more from the outside than yesterday. We didn't take our shooting responsibilities yesterday because all the crowd expect a lot and the players are scared of taking the risk because when they shoot they have to score.

"We don't care. We just have to respect the game and take our responsibilities. Some days we will score, some days not, but we have to shoot the ball. "

A 9-0 run at the end of the first quarter put the hosts up 20-8 and the game as a contest was over from then.

Star player Celine Dumerc whipped the crowd into a frenzy with a couple of quick three-pointers in the second quarter before sitting for much of the second half.

Gaelle Skrela top scored with 14, including two threes from two attempts, as France shared the ball to great effect while Isabelle Yacoubou dominated inside once again.

Serbia could do little to stop their illustrious opponents although Ana Dabovic scored 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting.

Quotes France vs. Serbia

Serbia Head Coach Marina Maljkovic
"They [France] are like the Galacticos of Real Madrid. I wish them a gold medal especially because I am one of the rare people in European Championship playing against her own people. That is what the game against France was for me."

Serbia player Ana Dabovic
"It's a really tough game. France are a very good team, we knew that. We tried to play hard but we didn't do what we can. All we can do now is learn from our mistakes and do better tomorrow."

France Head Coach Pierre Vincent
"Serbia is a good shooting team but we made it difficult for them to score against us. We played at a good tempo and with better balance on offence."

France player Sandrine Gruda
"It was a great game for us. We appreciate the fact that everybody was involved in the game. That is the way we have to play to win this championship."