Scotland U16 Women recorded a comfortable 76-35 victory to claim bronze against tournament hosts Moldova.

Following yesterday’s narrow loss to Georgia, Scotland faced Moldova – who had fallen 80-37 to Cyprus in the other semi-final – to determine which country would take home the bronze medals at the 2019 FIBA European Championships Division C.

An early three-pointer from Jannike Marshall gave Scotland the lead and a driving lay-up from Eva Morrison (14 points, 3 rebounds, 7 steals) quickly added to Scotland’s tally. With just three minutes on the clock Moldova called a timeout, trailing 5-2. It was Scotland who struck first after the break, with Jenni Torrance (12 points, 3 assists, 3 steals) netting her first basket of the game.

Moldova shot 1/4 from the free throw line as they were unable to capitalise on the Scottish fouls and both teams were running short on luck as several baskets missed in the early stages of the game. They made no mistake on the third attempt however, shooting two for two to reduce the deficit to two points.

Lucy Lemmon (7 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists) and Marie Morrison (9points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals) responded for Scotland and Abby Rutter (7 points, 7 rebounds, 11 steals) capitalised on a steal to  keep Scotland ahead as Moldova looked to end the first strongly, and Scotland added the final points to open up a seven-point lead. 17-10.

Lemmon was in fine form as she extended Scotland’s lead to nine early in the second but after Moldova were awarded a further four free throws, Scotland called a timeout to regroup. A Moldovan three-pointer cut the gap to four but Eva Morrison replied with a three of her own to cancel it out.

Taryn Cummins got her first basket of the game from deep as Scotland’s lead stretched to nine, and Torrance followed it up with another as Scotland continued to push ahead. The back-to-back three pointers forced a Moldova timeout but Emma Dunsire was next to bucket as Scotland went on an 8-0 scoring run.

Marie Morrison took the streak to ten points before Moldova replied with a jump shot. That made little difference as Lemmon and Rose Harvey kept the scoreboard rising for Scotland at the end of the half. 39-22.

Scotland started the second half as they ended the first and continued to build up a sizable lead over the Moldovan opponents. Dunsire, Torrance and Kerr netted the early baskets but for the first few minutes Moldova matched them. With the score 47-30 after three minutes of the third, Scotland embarked on a 8-2 streak to open up a game high 23-point lead.

Donnie Macdonald called a timeout with three minutes remaining in the third and it was Rutter who scored next to keep momentum in Scotland’s favour. Scotland ended the third with a 6-0 streak as the game looked over before the fourth quarter tipped. 61-32.

It was much of the same in the fourth as Scotland embarked on a seven-point streak to kill the game. Moldova scored a jump shot with just 4:24 left on the clock, their first basket in almost ten minutes of play.

With the gap so sizable the fourth was a slow quarter, with just the nine points scored in seven minutes. Marshall, Niamh Rana and Marie Morrison all added late baskets as Scotland claimed a big win. 76-35.

In the end it was a comfortable victory for the Scots, who return home with a thoroughly-deserved bronze medal for their efforts in Chisinau.