Romania beat Norway 157-129 in the Women's Continental Cup on Wednesday evening. The hosts took all three points from the encounter, moving them closer to the top of the table. Norway, who had been sitting second, now face a tougher road to the podium.
Romania came into this game third in the standings with one win from three matches. Their recent form had been mixed — a narrow loss to Isle of Man the day before, followed by a heavy defeat against Norway back in October. They had bounced back with wins over Bulgaria and a close loss to Turkey.
Norway arrived in second place with two victories and one defeat. Their last five games told a different story entirely. They had lost four of their last five matches, including heavy defeats against Luxembourg and Czech Republic in June. Only their win over Romania in October stood out from that run.
The result shifts things slightly in the standings. Romania move up with three points now on the board. Norway remain second but the gap to the leaders could widen depending on how the other fixtures fall. One win ends a barren spell, though this was Romania's first victory in the tournament.
With three games played by both sides, the tournament is still taking shape. The scoreline suggests Romania were the stronger side on this occasion. What happens next depends on how these teams respond in their remaining fixtures.