Tchatchouang Helps Ready France U20 Team
6/29/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
June 29, 2010
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland women's basketball sophomore Diandra Tchatchouang is currently overseas in her home country of France playing for Les Tricolores, the U20 women's basketball team. She has helped them successfully navigate through their first tournament in preparation for the U20 European Championship for Women in July.
France topped Germany, Bulgaria and Poland at the Tournoi International de Bourg-en-Bresse in France. Tchatchouang led her team in the first game against Germany with 14 points for a 75-54 comeback win.
In their second game of the tournament, France took out Bulgaria 66-35. They went on to claim the tournament with a 70-46 routing of Poland. Tchatchouang posted another double-figure performance in the game against the Poles, tallying 15 points.
Les Tricolores heads to Spain on Thursday for another friendly tournament which includes Russia, Turkey and the Spanish.
Tchatchouang is no stranger to the international scene. She participated on both the U18 and U16 teams for France. Tchatchouang led her U16 squad to the 2007 European championship, earning MVP honors in the process. She also had a solid eight-game showing in the 2008 U18 European championship, averaging 15 points and five rebounds on 58.2 percent shooting. The La Courneuve, France, native also registered two blocks and a steal per game. She posted 27 points in her final game against the Czech Republic.
The U20 European Championship for Women will be staged in Liepaja, Latvia, from July 15-25.
France, Poland and Bulgaria will play in Group A with the Netherlands while Germany will compete in Group C against Italy, Serbia and Spain.
The French U20 team beat Spain in last year's title game in Gdynia, Poland.
