The Israel Under-20 Women’s National Team secured another trip to the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship quarterfinals with an impressive 96-79 victory over Hungary in the Round of 16. The win also guarantees Israel’s place in Division A for next season. The team will now face Poland in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Tal Natan’s squad once again showcased its explosive offense, scoring 96 points behind a combined 52 points from Maya Zilbershlag (28) and Gal Raviv (24). Israel knocked down 11 3-pointers at 39%, dished out 19 assists and forced 18 Hungarian turnovers.

Maya Zilbershlag led Israel to an early 16-10 advantage. Gal Raviv picked up her second foul during the opening quarter, but it did not slow Israel down as it extended the lead to 25-16 by the end of the first period. Hungary opened the second quarter well and cut the deficit to 31-25 but after a timeout, Raviv responded with an important basket before assisting on a triple by Zilbershlag to make it 38-27, forcing Hungary to take a timeout of its own. Zilbershlag continued her scoring spree, reaching 19 points in the second quarter as Israel stretched the lead to 52-36 lead at halftime.

Zilbershlag stayed hot after the break, helping Israel open the third quarter with a run that increased the advantage to 62-40. Hungary answered with back-to-back 3-pointers, but Israel maintained control, leading 70-54 with three minutes remaining in the quarter. The blue-and-white entered the fourth quarter comfortably ahead, 78-61 and preserved the lead the rest of the way to secure the victory and a place in the quarterfinals.

Zilbershlag scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Raviv added 24 points and 8 assists while Maayan Cohen put in 18 points in the win.

Tal Natan, the Israel U20 Women’s National Team Head Coach spoke about the victory, “Our country has been through difficult years and our loss has been immense and painful. We are happy to give something back by providing a few moments of comfort and joy. These are talented, high-quality, and dedicated players who love representing the flag and they earned a great victory here. I’m happy for everyone, especially the players and the coaching staff.

“Now we move on to face a strong Poland team in the quarterfinals, one that has been very impressive throughout the tournament so far. We’ll prepare as best we can and arrive with our heads held high, a smile on our faces, and humility. We’re now fighting for the icing on the cake. Thank you to the Israel Basketball Association and thank you to everyone.”

The MVP Maya Zilbershlag added her thoughts after the win, “I’m happy about the win and proud of us and the way we played. Everything came together, we made our shots and shared the ball really well. Personally, I felt much better, my shots were falling and my teammates kept finding me. We play for each other, support one another, and always look for the player who has the hot hand and is in rhythm. We have a lot of talented players on this team, and we need to keep sharing the ball with each other. I felt good and I thought we played with great energy.

“Our next opponent is Poland and it won’t be an easy game. The goal is to win. Reaching this stage is a great achievement, but we’re aiming higher. We want to keep winning and not take our foot off the gas. The coaching staff prepared us really well for this game. We were ready and knew exactly what we needed to do. We knew their weaknesses and how we could attack their players. They really give us the confidence and belief that we’re capable of achieving anything here,” she concluded.