France pulled out another nail-biter, edging Lithuania 57-55 to qualify for the Quarterfinals.
Lithuania wasted a twelve-point second-half lead that was a large as ten with a little over a minute to go in the third (48-38).
In the final sixty seconds, a Sandrine Gruda jumper and an Emmeline Ndongue bank shot cut the deficit to six going into the fourth.
Lack of execution down the stretch, combined with some great defense by French point guard Celine Dumerc, cost Lithuania another tough loss.
"I think if we want to win a game like this we have to avoid mistakes in rebounding and committing turnovers at the end of the game," said Lithuanian coach Rutenis Paulauskas.
Lithuanian shooting guard Asru Bimbaite scored all of her team's seven points in the fourth quarter. She had 15 points and seven boards in the game, exorcizing her 2-for-18 disaster against Turkey.
A partially-blocked Bimbaite bank shot put Lithuania up 55-51 with 2:36 to play.
It was the last time the Lithuanians would move the scoreboard and the moment that Dumerc took over the game, even if she did it without scoring a single point.
Emmanuelle Hermouet drilled a three-pointer off a pass from Dumerc to cut to the Lithuanian's lead to 55-54.
"I'm here for this," said Hermouet, who hit another clutch three to send the game against Belarus into overtime.
"If the coach wants, I can make the most important basket. I don't think about that. I'm here to do my job, and I try to do the best I can."
After empty trips by both teams, Dumerc assisted Gruda to take the lead at 56-55 with 1:47 to go.
Then with just under a minute to play, Dumerc forced an eight-second violation by deflecting the ball away from Bimbaite, who, after recovering her dribble, didn't cross half-court in time.
Gruda would make one-of-two free throws with :37 on the clock to put her team up two.
Lithuania had the ball with the chance to win or tie, but France looked once again to their floor-leader Dumerc to secure the win with a steal of a pass by Rima Valentiene in the last seconds to never give Lithuania the chance.
"She [Dumerc] is incredible. [It's] an honour to play with her because she's basketball," Hermouet said about her point guard.
"She understands everything. She can say everything during the game and is there for the hard moments."
Dumerc had an incredible line for the game: eight points, eight assists, nine rebounds, and four steals.
The first half featured a great duel of young centers.
Lithuania's Gintare Petronyte, who was presented with the FIBA Europe Young Women's Players of the Year Award before the game, squared off with France's Isabelle Yacoubou-Dehoi in the a battle of the low blocks.
"We are a young team. We came here to this tournament to learn how to win and we are doing that," said a happy Yacoubou after the game.
Not to be outdone, Lithuania's Agne Ciudariene (17 points) and Sandrine Gruda (18 points) also had quite a fight inside.
"We came with no aggressiveness, just watching them play," said Gruda.
"But we woke up in the second half and when we were down two, three, we had to be patient. We have to be calm on the court. We don't have to start being angry if something goes wrong. We still have time to play until the end."
Lithuania will face fellow 0-3 Belarus on Sunday.
"I am disappointed, losing three games in a row in the last minute, but I am proud of my players who played at 100% for forty minutes," coach Paulaskas said.
France, already booked for the next round, will play Turkey next thinking about how a win will assure them a better seeding.
French coach Pierre Vincent was noticeable very proud of his team pulling out yet another close win.
On analysing his team's strength and weaknesses, he pointed to the need to balance exterior and interior play.
"We need to put pressure but also control the temple and control the ball," he said.
"We are strong inside and so we look to get the ball inside, but we need to learn when to take the outside shot- when to take on that responsibility."
Lucky for him France has Dumerc and Hermouet, players who have proven themselves more than willing to accept that responsibility.
