Quigley and Hungary out after EuroBasket First Round
After four games in as many days, Allie Quigley and Team Hungary will not make it to the second round of the EuroBasket tournament after going 1-3.
After a loss to Sweden on Friday, Hungary went on to play Lithuania on Saturday behind a strong home crowd. Unfortunately, a 15-point run by Lithuania in the second quarter put the game out of reach for Hungary as they were not able to recover despite a team high 20-point performance from Quigley.
Hungary went on to play group favorite Spain on Sunday in a must-win game in order to qualify for the next round of tournament play. After a difficult game shooting for Hungary and a strong 4th quarter from Spain Hungary fell 49-69 as Spain went a perfect 4-0 in first round play.
Hungary played its last game of the tournament on Monday, June 15th against Slovak Republic looking to leave on a high note and finally found some success. Behind a team high 26-point performance from Quigley Hungary won 86-74.
Despite Hungary and Quigley’s early exit from the tournament the Sky will be very much looking forward to Quigley’s return to Chicago after her standout performance in Hungary’s four games.
June 12:
In her team’s first matchup of the tournament against Sweden, Quigley scored a team-high 14 points and was perfect from the free throw line (4-4). Unfortunately Hungary could not stop Sweden’s 16-0 run late in the game as Hungary fell 72-63. Quigley and team Hungary get back in action tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT against Lithuania.
Quigley Goes to Hungary:
This week Chicago Sky guard Allie Quigley joined the Hungarian National Team to compete in the EuroBasket Tournament where the winner earns a spot in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games.
Quigley joins a talented Hungarian team which features key player Anna Vajda, who brings leadership and veteran skills in and around the paint, veteran forward/center Tijana Krivacevic, and center Dora Harti adding some height under the basket. Alongside Quigley in the backcourt will be playmaker Katalin Honti, and combo guard Zsofia Fegyverneky.
Led by coach Stefan Svitek, who also coached Quigley while she and Sky teammate Courtney Vandersloot played for Wisla Can-Pack, the Hungarian team will look to rely on intense, patriotic home support in the first two rounds as they co-host the tournament. Despite home court advantage, and a strong core group of players making it out of the initial round one group phase will not be an easy task for Quigley and team whose main weakness is depth.
Hungary is joined in Group D by Sweden, Lithuania, Slovak Republic, and Spain, all of which have proven to be formidable competitors and have been projected above Hungary. The good news for Hungary is that three of the five teams will make it out of first round play and though Hungary may have been projected below the rest of the group those projections were made while it was still unsure whether Quigley would join the team.
First round play has already begun but Hungary will play its first game Friday, May 12th at 12:00 p.m. CT against Sweden who will be looking to come back from a 69-72 loss to Slovak Republic in their first game of the tournament. Despite Sweden’s high tempo offense they will be missing a few key players for the tournament and lack experience as this is their first time making it past the final qualification round for 26 years.
The Hungarian National Team will continue play through the weekend as they are set to play Lithuania on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CT, then Spain on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT, and will finish first round play with Slovak Republic on Monday at 12:00 p.m. CT. Though live streams are not available, you can follow Allie and the Hungarian National Team at http://www.eurobasketwomen2015.com/