Defending champions Russia remained perfect at the 2009 EuroBasket Women with a convincing but unspectacular 66-51 victory over Belarus.

Valeriy Tikhonenko's Russians improved to 3-0 in the Qualification Round Group F by holding Belarus to just 34 percent shooting and out-rebounding the 2007 bronze medalists 44-32.

"We were prepared for this game and knew that Belarus was a good team and that they could hit the three-point shots," said Tikhonenko.

"After the second quarter we were a bit better with our defensive rebounds. We also tried to use our bench more today."

Maria Stepanova led the way with 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, though she turned the ball over seven times. All told, Russia lost the ball 21 times - three more than their average coming into the game.

"All in all the game was quite calm for us. We had control of the game. There were good and bad moments. But not special about this game was good," said Stepanova.

Ilona Korstin added 12 points and eight rebounds while Marina Kuzina chipped in 11 points off the bench.

Tikhonenko did not have the services of Tatiana Shchegoleva, who sat with a knee injury.

And Belarus boss Anatoli Buyalski was without his top scorer and main long range threat Tatyana Troina, who was ordered by doctors not to play.

"Our weakness today was our guards. We definitely missed Troina and the shooting she gives us and her presence. For now we're just going to forget this game and look to the next two games," said the coach.

Yelena Leuchanka was Belarus's leading scorer with 14 points to go with nine rebounds. And Nataliya Trafimava added 11 poitns.

Belarus point guards Natallia Marchanka and Volha Padabed combined to shoot 2 of 11 from the field.

Russia's struggles with ball handling started early on with two turnovers in watching Anastasiya Verameyenka get two inside baskets and then Marchanka nailed a triple for a 7-2 advantage.

Svetlana Abrosimova nailed a three-ball of her own to knot the game at 9-9 before Trafimava's second basket within a minute gave Belarus their last lead 11-9.

Stepanova stepped up with back-to-back scores and Kuzina drained a three-pointer and two foul shots in pushing the Russians ahead 18-11.

Belarus were able to trim the margin to 18-15 after one period.

Both sides failed to execute offensively early in the second quarter. Kuzina's three-pointer was the only score for either team in the first four minutes.

It was 23-15 when Trafimava's free throws with 5:16 left in the second quarter finally put Belarus on the board. Yuliya Dureika's offensive rebound and put-back was Belarus's first basket with a minute later.

Marina Kress's jumper pulled Belarus to within 28-23 before Russia made the final four points to lead 32-23 at intermission.

Leuchanka started getting a rhythm out of the locker room, knocking down three straight jumpers only to see Korstin match her basket for basket and Kuzina knock down triple to open the gap to 11 points - 43-32.

Buyalski's guards, however, did not go back to the well as Leuchanka went shot-less the rest of the quarter. And Abrosimova's break-away lay-up left the Russians ahead 48-34.

And the gap was 50-36 after three periods.

Stepanova scored on consecutive possessions in the fourth to increase the lead to 56-36. And Padabed's layup was Belarus's first basket of the quarter nearly 2:30 into the period.

Belarus could not get closer than 13 points the rest of the way.

Valeriy TIKHONENKO, Russia Head Coach

"After two days off, we were not in our top condition. Belarus is a good team, good on the perimeter, outside shooting. Belarus tried 13 three-pointers and scored only two of them, thanks to our defense. After the second quarter we lost the battle of rebounds, later we improved our performance. It's a long championship and we will need more concentration ahead."

Anatoliy BUJALSKIY, Belarus Head Coach

"Congratulations to Russia. Our guards didn't played well today, without Tatyana Troina our perimeter was significantly weaker. We missed her presence and missed a lot of shots."

Defending champions Russia may be in superb form and in line to get better with the completion of their roster upon Becky Hammon's arrival at the 2009 EuroBasket Women, but the 2007 bronze medalists Belarus must quickly find themselves.

Otherwise Anatoli Buyalski's Belarus side, which enters its Qualifying Round Group F contest with an 0-2 record, could find itself homeward bound sooner than it had expected.

Belarus may not yet be facing a must-win situation, but Buyalski can ill afford to watch his team can beat soundly by Russia, which may just shatter any confidence the team has right now after a subpar Preliminary Round.

Russia meanwhile sit atop Group F as co-leaders with France with a 2-0 record. Coach Valeriy Tikhonenko has been pleased with his team's defensive performance thus far but would like to see offense execute more effectively.

Head-to-Head:  Russia have knocked off Belarus in each of the past two summers - in their only two previous showdowns. Russia beat Belarus 87-73 in the 2007 EuroBasket Women Qualifying Round and then got past Belarus 71-65 in the first group stage of the 2008 Olympics.

Last Time Out:  Russia finished off their Group C campaign in Valmiera at 3-0 with a hard-fought 60-52 victory over Lithuania. After suffering a tough overtime loss against France, Belarus then lost their second game of the Group D with a 67-58 defeat against Italy.

Key Match-Up:  Belarus's Tatyana Troina vs. Russia's Svetlana Abrosimova.  Troina leads the team in scoring with 11.3 points in just 20 minutes off the bench. But the question will be if she and second-leading scorer Katsiaryna Snytsina (10.7 points, also off the bench) can get their shots off against Abrosimova and Tatiana Shchegoleva.

X-Factor: Belarus point guard Natallia Marchanka.  The veteran playmaker was named to the 2007 EuroBasket Women All Tournament team in Italy. But things have been an entirely different story in Latvia, where she leads the tournament in turnovers with 5.7 per game in the Preliminary Round. The Belarus floor general has also made just 3 of 18 shots from the field in scoring 2.3 points per contest. Marchanka undoubtedly must have a huge game for Belarus to surprise Russia.

Key Stats: 50.0 and 68.7, 31.3 and 44.9.  Russia have allowed a tournament-fewest 50.0 points per game while Belarus have seen teams score 68.7 points - second worst of teams remaining. In addition, the Russians are holding opponents to just 31.3 percent from the field - a tournament-best - while Belarus's opponents shooting percentage of 44.9 is the worst of Qualifying Round teams.

Sounding Off: "We had some stretches where we played well defensively. But those stretches have to be based on good moral and wanting to play. And it seemed (against Italy) that we weren't at the level that we wanted to win." Belarus coach Anatoli Buyalksi