Credit: Ievgenii Karanov, Chronicle.lu
On Wednesday 11 November 2026, Luxembourg's women's national basketball team began the second round of the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers with a 64-52 defeat against Ukraine at the Coque in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.
In their opening Group M match, Patrick Unger's team faced Ukraine, the lowest-ranked of their three group opponents in the FIBA Women's World Ranking, at No. 53.
Both teams struggled to find their shooting rhythm in the opening minutes, with the first points coming midway through the third minute. A three-pointer from Tetiana Yurkevichus, followed by baskets from Miriam Uro-Nilie, Alina Iagupova and Yurkevichus again, gave Ukraine an early 9-0 lead.
Patrick Unger called a timeout, but Yurkevichus added another two points as Luxembourg continued to miss their attempts. The hosts finally opened their account after Catherine Mreches entered the court and scored a basket. She then provided an assist for Svenia Nurenberg, who converted a three-pointer.
Ukraine maintained a lead of around ten points throughout the remainder of the period, with Inna Kochubei's team finishing the first quarter 20-9 ahead.
Luxembourg improved offensively at the beginning of the second quarter. Two points from Magaly Meynadier and successful free throws from Anne Simon prevented Ukraine from extending their advantage. Simon then added two baskets from close range, reducing the deficit to six points (23-17).
Ukraine responded by calling a timeout and subsequently restored their ten-point advantage. However, Luxembourg continued to fight back, with Catherine Mreches converting a three-pointer before Svenia Nurenberg followed with another from beyond the arc, prompting a second timeout from Ukraine's head coach.
Although Luxembourg could not reduce the deficit further, the hosts won the quarter (16-11). Two successful free throws from Liz Irthum towards the end of the period brought the score to 31-25 in Ukraine's favour at halftime.
The second half began with several turnovers from both teams. Tetiana Yurkevichus scored twice from close range for Ukraine, while Sofie Olsen responded with a three-pointer for Luxembourg.
The hosts struggled to match Ukraine's scoring, and midway through the third quarter Patrick Unger's team found themselves eleven points behind. Anne Simon attempted several shots from beyond the arc and drives towards the basket, but was unable to convert.
Catherine Mreches then added another two points, slightly reducing the visitors' advantage, before Magaly Meynadier scored her first three-pointer of the game. Just before the buzzer, Mreches converted a long-range three-pointer from approximately nine metres, bringing Luxembourg within five points of Ukraine (39-44) heading into the final quarter.
Speaking to Chronicle.lu, Catherine Mreches acknowledged the team's slow start and the need for greater consistency: "I think overall we can be proud that we played a decent game. I'm saying decent on purpose because I think there are still some things that we can improve on because even the beginning of the game, we were kind of hesitant to attack, to really build on something.” She added: "We need to attack, we need to fight every single time. And if we lack this one intensity, they will score. They will punish us right away. And that's this inconsistency. We need to get better on that."
Catherine Mreches also opened the scoring for Luxembourg in the final quarter, taking her personal tally to fourteen points. Jo Oly followed with another basket, but Ukraine responded with five points through a mid-range shot from Miriam Uro-Nilie and a three-pointer from Alina Iagupova.
With five minutes remaining, Ukraine led 52-45. The visitors extended their advantage by another two points over the following minute, prompting Patrick Unger to call a timeout.
However, Iagupova converted another three-pointer after the restart, restoring Ukraine's ten-point lead. With two minutes remaining, Luxembourg were unable to mount a comeback, and Ukraine eventually secured a 64-52 victory.
Anne Simon finished as Luxembourg's leading scorer with sixteen points, followed by Catherine Mreches with fourteen. For Ukraine, Alina Iagupova led the scoring with twenty points.
Following the match, Luxembourg head coach Patrick Unger told Chronicle.lu: "Well, I mean, obviously we were running behind the first five minutes and that was really tough for us. And if you don't have these five minutes, then maybe the game would've been different. There's some kind of lack of confidence in the beginning for whatever reason, and then we missed some wide open layups and shots."
Looking ahead, Patrick Unger emphasised the team's longer-term objectives: "We have a bigger goal in mind and this is the first step. And then again, like I said, it's a lot of things that we can build on properly."
In the other Group M match, France defeated Great Britain 104-57 at home.
Luxembourg's women's national basketball team will play their next second-round qualifier against France on Saturday 14 November 2026 at 18:00 at the Coque in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.
