Latvia's women's basketball team convincingly beats Lithuania in Stockholm friendly

Latvia's women's national basketball team secured a convincing 83:65 victory over Lithuania on Friday in the second match of a friendly tournament held in Stockholm. The quarter scores were 22:12, 25:20, 20:21 and 16:12.

Kitija Laksa led the Latvian scorers with 17 points and six rebounds, while team captain Kate Vilka added 13 points, making all seven of her free throws. For Lithuania, Livija Sakevičiūtė posted 18 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, and Rusne Augustinaitė scored 13 points.

Course of the game

Latvia opened the game with a decisive 10:0 run, built on three-pointers from Laksa, free throws from Ieva Pulvere and points from Laura Meldere. Although Lithuania closed the gap to 12:14 in the eighth minute, Latvia responded with an 11-point run, taking a 25:12 lead at the start of the second quarter. By halftime, Latvia's advantage had grown to 19 points, at 44:25.

In the final quarter, Lithuania briefly narrowed the gap to 55:67, but Latvia answered with a nine-point run, reaching the game's largest margin, 83:58, in the 37th minute.

Latvia outperformed their opponents in three-point shooting (11/27 versus 5/17), free throws (20/22 versus 18/30), and assists (25:12).

Tournament context

On Thursday, Latvia won the tournament's opening match against Sweden 70:60, while Lithuania lost to Finland 70:81 on the same day. In the second Friday match, Sweden defeated Finland 73:68.

Twelve players traveled to Sweden for the friendlies, including longtime leaders Ieva Pulvere, Kate Vilka and Kitija Laksa, as well as national team debutants Madlēna Ģērķe and Nikola Priede. The team has been training together since mid-July.

Latvia's women's national team is preparing for the second round of 2027 European Championship qualification, where it will face Italy, Slovenia and Austria. The top two finishers will advance to the final tournament.