After dominating the championship from start to finish, the Spanish U16F National Team claimed the gold medal Saturday night with another dominant performance against Slovenia. Head coach Madelén Urieta's squad led throughout, and Spain capped off a tournament where Amelia Alonso was named MVP and earned All-Tournament honors alongside Paula Reynal.
The Spanish U16F National Team will return home Sunday as European champions following a spectacular championship in which Madelén Urieta's squad dominated every matchup from beginning to end.
That winning mentality remained intact, as expected in a final where Paula Reynal opened the scoring against a Slovenia team that understood Spain's intentions from the opening tip. Madelén Urieta's squad set a high pace from the jump with solid defense and an offensive game that Slovenia could only match until 4-4. From that point forward, the Spanish team's collective play began to wear down their opponents, who struggled to find the basket in the first quarter (9-21) and gradually lost ground throughout a second quarter that saw the first significant gap open up on the scoreboard (19-39).
Spain went into halftime with a 20-point lead and solid execution on both ends of the floor, but Madelén Urieta continued to push from the sideline for her players to maintain their competitive edge. That effort was complemented by the team's first three-pointers of the game, further extending the lead against a Slovenia squad that struggled to advance the ball against Spain's suffocating pressure (32-61).
Spain entered the fourth quarter with a commanding lead and waited for the final buzzer to complete the second continental title of the summer and third medal in as many championships for the women's national team (40-87). The championship was capped by Luna Segovia and Amelia Alonso earning All-Tournament honors, with Alonso named the competition's MVP.