The DBB women’s team fulfilled their duty in Denmark, but certainly faced some difficulties near Copenhagen. In the end, however, they secured a clear victory even without star player Leonie Fiebich.
It’s a sigh of relief for the DBB team, who were already under a bit of pressure in Denmark following their opening defeat to Hungary and were put to the test near Copenhagen as well. Shortly before the end of the third quarter, following a run of three-pointers from the Danes, the lead had shrunk from 17 to five points, but the World Cup fourth-place finishers didn’t let themselves be thrown off their stride and ultimately saw the game out in commanding fashion.
“I’m very happy and relieved that, overall, we played very well as a team. Especially given that we had to manage without Leo Fiebich and the other injured players,” said national coach Olaf Lange after the match. The New York Liberty star was rested, but is expected to be back in action on Tuesday in Portugal.
Alexandra Wilke stepped into the starting five in place of the 26-year-old, and the playmaker had a good day. Laura Zolper also impressed, clocking up more minutes than ever before (26) in her twelfth international match and scoring in double figures for the first time in a DBB jersey (11 points, 5 assists).
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“We all knew we’d have to step up a bit more, as she is our leader and always does so much for the team,” said Wilke regarding Fiebich’s absence (muscle problems), whilst offering some self-criticism of the first half: “We struggled a bit at the start; particularly in defence, we allowed the Danes shots that we didn’t want to give them.”
In the end, it was the result that counted, and at 88–71, it was ultimately a positive one. However, the victory will only mean anything if we can follow it up with a win against Portugal. “That will be a completely different game; the Portuguese apply a lot of pressure across the whole court, so we need to prepare for that,” warned Lange. “But given how we played today, I’m sure we’ll be ready.”