Prague, Czech Republic – Fordham women's basketball's rising sophomore standout
Kate Kreslina has been named to Latvia's senior national team for a second time, as they head to the Czech Republic for this summer's FIBA Women's EuroBasket, beginning on Friday June 16. It will be Kreslina's first EuroBasket experience after helping Latvia in the second round of qualifying for the 2015 iteration.
"This is another step for Kate after her All-Rookie season and, prior to that, her ACL injury," Fordham head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "This experience with her national team will springboard her into an outstanding sophomore campaign."
Kreslina, the fourth-youngest member of this current squad, did not compete with the team during qualifiers but has been called up for the biennial continent-wide tournament. Latvia has been drawn into a challenging group with former champion Russia, Belgium, and Montenegro. The Latvians will open their Group D slate on Friday against the Russians at 9 a.m. EST inside Prague's Kralovka Arena.
Saturday brings Montenegro at 6:30 a.m. EST and group play will finish up with Belgium on Monday at the same time. Teams that finish first will directly qualify for the quarterfinals while second and third place teams in each group will compete in a one-game play-off against neighboring groups. Group D is paired with Group C and will play their play-off contests on Tuesday, June 20.
Previously, Kreslina had featured in qualifying for EuroBasket 2015 when she was the second-youngest player on the team at just 18 years old. The Riga native has also been a fixture with the various junior national squads competing in several European-wide tournaments the last few years.
You can stream all games at www.livebasketball.tv, with highlights available later on YouTube.com/FIBA.
For more information on this summer's EuroBasket,
click here.
