FIBA: UCLA’s Angela Dugalić impresses for Serbia at EuroBasket Women

At first glance, the final standings of the EuroBasket Women’s group stage makes the competition, seem boring and predictable. In all four groups, the group winners—France (Group A), Italy (Group B), Belgium (Group C), Spain (Group D)—finished 3-0. From there, the second, third and fourth place finishers in all groups also earned the same records.

Group A: France (3-0), Turkey (2-1), Greece (1-2), Switzerland (0-3)

Group B: Italy (3-0), Lithuania (2-1), Slovenia (1-2), Serbia (0-3)

Group C: Belgium (3-0), Czech Republic (2-1), Portugal (1-2), Montenegro (0-3)

Group D: Spain (3-0), Germany (2-1), Sweden (1-2), Great Britain (0-3)

The top two teams from each group advance to the Quarter-Finals, while the third-place teams will compete in the Classification Games. The fourth-place teams are headed home.

However, the extraordinary play of players from those fourth-place teams that we won’t be seeing in the next round are proof that the competition has been far from boring. Here’s a look at the four most interesting young players from the national teams that have been eliminated from the competition:

Sam Ashby (Great Britain)

Great Britain has a very interesting backcourt in Sam Ashby and Holly Winterburn, and while Winterburn is the better player, Ashby deserves some attention, too. She’s a capable shooter, which she proved during the competition making 38 percent of her 3s. Against Spain she was one a few players who kept Britain’s chances alive with game-high 17 points. A high-energy player, it makes sense that Ashby’s been playing the sixth-woman role, but she proved during the three games that she’s also worthy of being a starter.

Marija Leković (Montenegro)

The 5-foot-5 point guard is just 22 years old, but Marija Leković was the primary ball handler for one of the toughest defensive teams in Europe. Yes, she had the same number of assists as steals, and shot just 29 percent from the floor, but she played against Belgium, Czech Republic and Portugal. Leković is quick and smart beyond her years.

Lin Schwarz (Switzerland)

At 22 years old, the 6-foot-1 big was the de facto leader of the Swiss National Team. Lin Schwarz already has a reputation as a tough, physical player who can score near the basket—she drained 60 percent of her 2-point shots last season at Castors Braine (Belgium). In the competition, while heavily guarded, her accuracy dropped to 41 percent, but she was still good for 8.3 points and 7.7 boards per game.

Angela Dugalić (Serbia)

American fans are pretty familiar with UCLA wing Angela Dugalić. The 23-year-old played solid defense, as all Serbian players must do under head coach Marina Maljković, but she makes the list for her offensive showing against Slovenia. Serbia lost that game, but Dugalić scored 20 points on 70 percent accuracy, including 3-for-6 from 3.

Quarter-Finals schedule

All contests will be played in Peace and Friendship Stadium, Piraeus, Greece and are available to stream via Courtside 1891/Max.

France vs. Lithuania: June 24 at 10:30 a.m. ET

Italy vs Turkey: June 24 at 1:30 p.m. ET

Spain vs. Czech Republic: June 25 at 10:30 a.m. ET

Belgium vs. Germany: June 25 at 1:30 p.m. ET