Lithuania women's national basketball team
| Lithuania | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| FIBA ranking | 25  10 |
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| Joined FIBA | 1936 | ||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
| National federation | Lithuanian Basketball Federation | ||
| Coach | Mantas Šernius | ||
| Nickname(s) | Basketball: The Second Religion, Game of the Nation | ||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 0 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| Women's World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 3 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| EuroBasket Women | |||
| Appearances | 11 | ||
| Medals |
 Gold 1997 Silver 1938
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| Uniforms | |||
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The Lithuania national women's basketball team (Lithuanian: Lietuvos nacionalinė moterų krepšinio rinktinė) represents Lithuania in international basketball matches.
The roster for the EuroBasket Women 2013.
Basketball first reached Lithuania when the game was already 30 years old. The version originally played was the German (Dutch) variant, not the North American version invented by James Naismith. The baskets were fastened to the poles without boards, and the game was played in a huge court. One of the Lithuanian sport pioneers, Steponas Garbačiauskas, wrote: "In 1919 Lithuanian women athletes started organizing, but they showed up publicly only in 1920–1921 and started playing basketball." Though women started playing basketball in Lithuania before men did, the first official game was played by men on April 23, 1922, when Lietuvos Fizinio Lavinimo Sąjunga (English: Lithuanian Physical Education Union) played a game against Kaunas. LFLS won the game with a score of 8–6. This day is regarded as the beginning of basketball in Lithuania. The first official women's basketball game in Lithuania took place on September 10, 1922.
The first European women's basketball championship was organized in 1938. It was held in Rome, Italy. The Lithuanian women's squad competed and became European vice-champions. The team's head coach was Feliksas Kriaučiūnas, already well known for his achievements with the Lithuanian men's basketball team.
After World War II, the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania and forced it to play for the Soviet Union women's national basketball team. The best Lithuanian players, playing for the Soviet Union national basketball team, won several titles with it. As members of Soviet Union team, Lithuanians (men and women) in total won 17 Olympic medals (8 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze), 17 World championship medals (11 gold, 5 silver and one bronze), and 51 EuroBasket medals (36 gold, 4 silver and 11 bronze). The most decorated Lithuanian players during the Soviet era were Angelė Rupšienė, who won the first two women's Olympic basketball golds in 1976 and 1980 and also the 1971, 1975 World Championships, and Vida Beselienė, who got an Olympic gold in 1980 and the 1983 World Championship. Other Lithuanian world champions were Jurate Daktaraitė (1959), Larissa Vinčaitė (1971), and Chamomile Šidlauskaitė (1983).
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