A strong push late in the third quarter propelled Poland past the Ukraine 73-64 in the U18 European Championship for Women.

The result sees Poland improve to 2-2 in Group E of the Qualifying Round while their opponents dropped to 1-3.

Yet another three-point barrage proved the winning formula for Sweden as they beat Bulgaria 73-60 in the U18 European Championship for Women.

The Bulgarians got off to a quick start and were up 9-6 following Stefka Nikolova's lay up. But Frida Fogdemark and Jennifer Kucukkaya found their stroke from downtown to spearhead an 11-0 run that swung the game in Sweden's favour as they took a 21-11 lead heading into the second quarter. They were able to cruise from that point onwards.

The title may not have been at stake on Tuesday when Spain beat the defending champions Serbia 76-64 in a re-match of last year's final, but a few members of the Spanish team will admit that the result gave them at least a partial revenge.

"It was a very important win because it got us off to a good start in the Qualifying Round and we know that in our group there are no easy games," said head coach Carlos Colinas, who was in charge when the Spaniards were crushed 72-48 in last year's final of the U18 European Championship for Women in Novi Sad.

Cleopatra Forsman went on a personal 13-0 run in the third quarter as Sweden stunned Russia 65-56 in the U18 European Championship for Women.

The result saw Jan Enjebos girls improve to 1-2 in Group F of the Qualifying Round and in the process handed the mighty Russians their first loss of the tournament.

France scored the game's first 17 points as they cruised to a 90-44 demolition of Bulgaria.

Diandra Tchatchouang filled the stats sheet with 13 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists as Les Bleus remained unbeaten (4-0) in the competition to top Group F in the Qualifying Round.

Lithuania scorched the Ukraine with six three-pointers in the second quarter to secure a 71-52 win in the U18 European Championship for Women.

Aurime Rinkeviciute hit four of seven attempts from downtown in the first half to help Lithuania remain one of only two teams - France being the other - still undefeated (4-0) in the tournament. Marina Solopova had a team-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.

Turkey rallied back from a 10-point half-time deficit to beat the Slovak Republic 57-53 in the U18 European Championship for Women.

The Turks bounced back from a poor first half - by the end of which they were down 30-20 - scoring the first seven points of the third quarter and proved the far better team down the stretch as the nerves got the better of the hosts.

Spain got a measure of revenge by beating the defending champions Serbia 76-64 in the U18 European Championship for Women.

Serbia had crushed Spain 72-48 in last year's final to take the crown but they weren't able to repeat the feat as Spain's early run in the second half proved the turning point of this Group F clash.

The Czech Republic overcame an early 11-0 deficit to crush Poland 91-58 at the U18 European Championship for Women.

Michaela Stara led a balanced offense with 12 points and Renata Brezinova contributed a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds as last year's fourth-placed team improved to 2-1 in Group E of the qualifying round.

With the preliminary round of the U18 European Championship for Women over, this is a good time to take a look back at the players who shined the brightest and will be worth keeping an eye on throughout the rest of the tournament.

In no particular order, here are the five best.