Despite a 79–66 loss to France in the final, Israel capped off a remarkable tournament with a historic silver medal as Gal Raviv, who was named to the tournament’s First Team led the way with 29 points.

The remarkable journey of Israel’s U20 Women’s National Team at the FIBA Under-20 Women’s European Championship came to an end on Sunday as the team claimed the silver medal after falling to the newly crowned European champion France. Israel trailed throughout the game and was unable to match the French side, which opened the final with an 18–0 run and never relinquished its lead despite several Israeli comeback attempts.

Another outstanding performance from Raviv wasn’t enough for Tal Natan’s squad, which completed a historic tournament by recording the greatest achievement in the history of Israeli women’s basketball, a runner-up finish at the U20 European Championship. Raviv led the way with 29 points, Oren added 16 points while Zilbershlag put in 12 points for Israel.

Israel Head Coach Tal Natan said after the game, “Right now we’re hurting. We didn’t start the game well and we struggled to create good scoring opportunities. But our players competed with tremendous pride and heart, with Gal Raviv leading the way. What Raviv accomplished here is one for the history books. I have tremendous appreciation for her and she made all of us better. I wish her the greatest success in the world and I hope she continues to bring pride to Israeli basketball.”

Raviv shared her thoughts following the title game, “It’s disappointing to lose and we wanted it to end differently, but we have every reason to be proud, finishing as the second-best team in Europe. This is the result of hard work and I’m happy I was able to show what I’m capable of, but I couldn’t have done it without this incredible team.

“I’m just so proud of them and I have memories that will stay with me for a lifetime. We became so close and I believe we’ll meet again on the senior national team and continue to bring pride to Israel. Personally my dream is to make it to the WNBA, become an impactful player there, compete in the EuroLeague and represent Israel with pride.”

France opened the game with a barrage of 3-pointers, racing out to an 18–0 lead as Israel struggled to find their rhythm, but Raviv along with Maya Zilbershlag and Neta Meyshar added triples of their own to cut the deficit to single digits, but the French squad ended the period ahead 28-16 after ten minutes of play. Israel tightened its defense to begin the second quarter and attacked the paint on the offensive side of the ball repeatedly drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line but while Ayala Oren cut the gap France center Sarah Cisse dominated the paint during that stretch to give her side a 44-31 advantage at halftime.

France continued to control the momentum in the third quarter, as Israel had no answer for the French offense and while the lead grew to as many as 23 points, Raviv knocked down two late shots from deep to make it 68–49 heading into the final frame. Strong play from Maya Zilbershlag and Oren fueled a 9–0 Israeli run to open the fourth quarter, cutting down the deficit but a 3-pointer by Stella Colas halted the momentum as France took home the championship with a 79–66 victory.