Latvian women's basketball team beats Sweden in Stockholm friendly
Latvia's women's national basketball team defeated Sweden 70-60 in a friendly in Stockholm on Thursday. Kitija Laksa and Vanesa Jasa scored 11 points each, while Nikola Priede and Madlēna Ģērķe made their debuts.
Friendly in Stockholm
Latvia's women's national basketball team beat Sweden 70-60 in a "Four Nations" friendly in Stockholm on Thursday, August 6. Kitija Laksa and Vanesa Jasa led Latvia with 11 points apiece. Nikola Priede and Madlēna Ģērķe made their debuts for the national team.
Preparation and venue
The team is coached by Matīss Rožlapa, assisted by Kaspars Mājenieks, Ilze Ose-Hlebovicka and Ivars Ikstens. Latvia arrived in the Swedish capital on Wednesday evening and held a shooting practice at Solnahallen on Thursday afternoon. The game took place in the evening at Fryshuset, a youth center housed in a former industrial cold-storage facility that was donated to a local youth association in the 1980s. Today Fryshuset is the largest non-profit youth organization in Sweden, with a basketball court and recreation areas in the old cold-storage premises.
A member of the local Hall of Fame is Swedish-Somali basketball player Farhija Abdi, a forward who played alongside Kate Vilka at the French club Charnay Basket in the 2023-24 season. Abdi arrived an hour before the game to talk with her former teammate.
Match summary
Earlier in the day, Finland beat Lithuania 81-70, with Lithuania missing several key players. During pre-game warm-ups, the Latvian songs "Baudām", "Nārnija" and "Piededzini man" were played, along with ABBA's "Gimme gimme gimme".
Latvia started with Bulāne, Vilka, Laksa, Digna Strautmane and Gulbe. Aleksa Gulbe won the opening tip, and after passes to Digna Strautmane and Kitija Laksa, Latvia opened the scoring. Sweden responded with two three-pointers from Matilde Eha and Tilda Trygger and held the lead for about 16 minutes in the first half. Latvia's attack became more fluid once Ieva Pulvere began handling the ball more. The experienced guard forced a turnover and used open spaces in Sweden's defense. Aleksa Gulbe scored four points close to the basket.
From the second quarter, Latvia took control, with Pulvere, Jasa and Bulāne running the backcourt, Laksa hitting from distance and all the tall players contributing. Quarter scores were 12:19, 25:15, 14:14 and 19:12.
Latvia's scorers: Jasa 11, Laksa 11, Vilka 8, Bulāne 8, Pulvere 7, Gulbe 7, Otto 6, Priede 4 (9 rebounds, 17:26 minutes), Digna Strautmane 4, Meldere 4 (5 rebounds), Madlēna Ģērķe (03:02 minutes); Grausa. On Friday at 21:30, Latvia will face Lithuania.
