Thanks to their victory against Hungary (82-68) on Sunday, Les Bleues pocketed an eighth medal in a row at the European Championship.
The French team will not leave Ljubljana (Slovenia) empty-handed. The day after a tough defeat against Belgium (67-63), Les Bleues raised their heads in the small final against Hungary (82-68), Sunday June 25, to win the bronze medal of the Eurobasket. This is France’s eighth consecutive charm in the European Championship, even if it had more ambitions: a third European crown after 2001 and 2009.
To see the rage and the joy of the general manager Céline Dumerc as well as the bench at each basket, there is no doubt that the players of Jean-Aimé Toupane were keen to show another face. They have put all the ingredients to make life easy: intensity, toughness, defensive rigor and a will at all times.
Les Bleues have heart 💙 Winners of Hungary, the Tricolores leave with the bronze of Euro 2023 🥉#PassionatelyBlue #EuroBasketWomen pic.twitter.com/ASR5YOBqcN
– French basketball teams (@FRABasketball) June 25, 2023
The Habs soared between the first and second quarters by inflicting a scathing 25-1 in six minutes (from 6-7, 5 ‘, to 31-8, 11’) thanks to the address of Mamignan Touré (12 points and four winning shots at the break) and the impact inside Alexia Chartereau (10 points). Holder for the first time in a Eurobasket, she agreed with her coach.
Record for Mamignan Touré
Clumsy at the start of the game (3/16 shooting in the first quarter), the Magyars reacted to pride twice. Returning from the locker room (55-45, 27′) thanks to Virag Kiss (21 points), then returning to nine units at 1’37” from the gong (74-65). History to test the tricolor nerves before Mamignan Touré planted two last banderillas behind the arc to sign his record for points in selection (20 points in total) and Marie-Paule Foppossi opened her counter in the competition.
This match for third place also allowed some relative lessons. Leila Lacan (10 points) confirmed that a bright future was promised to her when she should continue, in mid-July, with the U19 World Cup.
Gruda crosses the 900 point mark
He may also have harbored some regrets. “It’s a choice I made myself”, had justified Jean-Aimé Toupane after the defeat in the semi-finals on Saturday, to explain the forty minutes on the bench of Iliana Rupert. Against Hungary, his decision was to launch it in the first quarter. The right shoulder largely compressed by a bandage, the young interior, injured since the last match of the preliminary round against Slovenia (73-68), scored 13 points in 15 minutes on the floor.
It is anyway too late to redo the match, the one that mattered more, the semi-final. For her eighth and last European championship, Sandrine Gruda (36 years old today and acclaimed by the French public) became the third player to exceed 900 points in total at Eurobasket. With her teammates, she leaves especially with the bronze. The smiles were back at Arena Stozice.