Defending champions Russia survived a tough fight from Lithuania in taking first place in Group C with a 60-52 victory to enter the Qualifying Round with a perfect record.

Valeriy Tikhonenko's Russians held Lithuania scoreless for more than five minutes in the fourth quarter in improving to 3-0 as Olga Arteshina led the way with 16 points and Marina Kuzina had 11 points - both players coming off the bench.

"It was a very difficult game as everyone saw. The opponents played very well and did a great job. Our friendly before the tournament was exactly the same scenario," said the coach, whose team battled with Lithuania for three quarters before winning 72-62 in the final warm-up.

Gintare Petronyte had 17 points and nine rebounds for Lithuania.

"We didn't show all our strength. But what we showed today was our character and desire to win games."

Maria Stepanova added 12 points and six rebounds for the winners.

Lithuania were paced by 17 points and nine rebounds from Gintare Petronyte and Diana Staugaitiene had 10 points.

Egle Stakneviciene came into the game averaging a tournament-high 24.5 points but had just eight.

"I think they deserved this win. They played better in the last quarter and made the big plays," said Lithuanian boss Rutenis Paulauskas.

This showdown had all the tension of a late round game, and both teams worked extremely hard on defense.

On the Russians' first possession, the Lithuanians twice consecutively created jump ball situations, and Petronyte's two foul shots opened the scoring at the 8:34 mark. The Lithuanians however could not buy a basket, missing their first 15 shots from the field.

Good for Paulauskas's team was that Russia were struggling offensively until Arteshina twice used her size advantage in scoring over Ausra Bimbaite for an 11-4 advantage.

Petronyte knocked down a hook shot with 1:23 left in the first quarter for Lithuania's first basket of the game. Agne Ciudariene connected on Lithuania's very next shot and Russia led just 13-8 after one period.

Rima Valentiene opened the second quarter with a long ball to spark an 11-0 run, which included two Ciudariene jumpers in helping Lithuania to a 19-13 lead

After six failed possessions, Kuzina finally got the Russians on the board with a three-pointer with 5:40 left in the half.

Stepanova would knot the game at 19-19 with a jumper only to see Petronyte bank in a three-pointer. The 20-year-old talent would hit another from long range the next time down for a 25-19 Lithuania advantage, which was cut to 27-23 at the break.

Arteshina took it upon herself that Russia would take back control of the game, hitting two three-pointers from the left corner and putting back two offensive rebounds in the first four possessions of the second half. She added an assist on Ilona Korstin's jumper and Svetlana Abrosimova's break-away lay-up finished a 16-3 spurt for a 39-30 Russia lead.

"I felt in the second half we had a different approach, to make more simple plays. And Olga Arteshina was huge for us early in the second half," said Abrosimova.

With the feeling of a true heavyweight fight, Petronyte and Stakneviciene sandwiched three-point plays around Sandra Valuzyte's triple. And Staugatiene's layup pushed the Lithuanians back ahead 42-41 to finish the 12-2 answering run.

The lead changed hands four more times with Lithuania leading 46-45 after three periods.
After hitting 5 of 9 threes through 30 minutes, Lithuania lost their aim, missing five straight from long range and Kuzina's three-ball opened a 55-46 lead.

Staugaitiene finally hit Lithuania's first basket - a three pointer with 4:40 to play. But Korstin scored a close range basket to a 58-49 lead with two minutes left and the margin was too much.

Lithuania, however, are 1-1 and enter the game sure of a spot in the Qualifying Round. The Baltic nation however can finish anywhere between first and third in the group depending on the result.

The two teams met in the final warm-up before the EuroBasket Women and Lithuania stayed with the Russians for three quarters before falling 72-62.

Head-to-Head: Russia lead the all-time head-to-head series with Lithuania 4-1 with the latest result coming at the 2007 EuroBasket Women where Russia won 75-58 in the Quarter-Finals. Russia also beat Lithuania 65-50 in the 2005 EuroBasket Women semi-finals.

Last Time Out:  Russia dominated Serbia 72-37 while Lithuania lost to Turkey 69-66

Key Match-Up:  Russian front court vs. Lithuanian low post Maria Stepanova, Irina Osipova and Tatiana Shchegoleva will undoubtedly get their production in the Russian low blocks. But the question is how much will come from the Lithuanian trio of starters Gintare Petronyte and Agne Ciudariene as well as Egle Stakneviciene. Petronyte scored 20 points in the first game but just one in the second. And the reserve power forward Stakneviciene leads all scorers in the tournament with 24.5 points off the bench, including 43 percent from three-point range.

X-Factor: Lithuania bench. Lithuanian coach Rutenis Paulauskas does not have a deep rotation with three of his main players not in Latvia due to injuries or pregnancy. Only six players have scored in each game for Lithuania and the incredible depth of the Russians could eventually wear down the Lithuanians.

Key Stat: 8 of 42. That is the combined total of three-pointers for Turkey (7 of 28) and Serbia (1 of 14) against Russia, who dominated both teams with their defense.

Sounding Off: "Lithuania lost (against Turkey) but they are still a very strong team. And it will be a very hard game. And we will be looking to get every point we can, thinking in the future. We are thinking about the next round. It will be a very hard game because for Lithuania it will also be very important." Russia forward Tatiana Shchegoleva.