Latvian women's basketball club Liepajas metalurgs usually draw a maximum of about 100 fans at the Liepajas Olimpiskais Centrs facility, but upwards of 3,000 spectators have come out for Latvia's games there at the U20 European Championship for Women.

One reason is locals wanting to see the Latvian national team. A bigger reason however may be to see possibly the farewell tour of Liepaja native Sabine Niedola.

After growing up with the club, Latvia's 19-year-old budding superstar is taking the next step in her career by playing next season with French EuroCup Women club Nantes. And Niedola loves seeing the big crowds in her hometown along the Baltic Sea coast.

"It's great to see all these fans. I like playing in Liepaja. It's really like a party here," said Niedola.

After leading the team in scoring (19.0 ppg), rebounding (9.3 rpg) and steals (2.7 spg) while also averaging 2.5 assists and 0.7 blocks, the Latvian power forward patiently works her way through interviews with one Latvian media outlet after another before finally finishing off her stretching with her teammates.

When asked if she feels the pressure of all the media interest and the local fans, Niedola said: "I feel it but I really like it. I don't stress on the court."

And whether or not all the hoopla bothers her, Niedola added: "Actually no."

And her focus goes directly back to the team, which faces Turkey in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Latvia captured the bronze medal at the U20 women's level in 2005 and 2009. Niedola wasn't on the U20 team last season. But she really wants to add another medal to the proud Baltic nation.

"We can't think about how hard it is. We just have to go and play every game and win. And think about how we can win. I hope that we move at least one step higher," said Niedola, who ranks second in the tournament in scoring and fifth in rebounds.

The key for Latvia's showing in Liepaja and Grobina has been playing as a team.

"We have a really good coach and assistants. And we don't think about how scores how many points. We don't have any egos," said Niedola, who hopes to play at the U20 event next summer as well.

Once the U20 tournament is over, Niedola will likely be heading to the Latvian senior national team for their 2011 EuroBasket Women qualification campaign with games against Israel, Romania and Serbia.

"I don't know yet. I think so, but I am not sure," said Niedola, who last summer at the 2009 EuroBasket Women in Latvia had 10 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes of action during Latvia's first eight games before exploding for 16 points and 11 rebounds against Slovakia in the seventh place game.

After the qualifiers, Niedola will be moving to western France to play at French top flight club Nantes Reze. She decided to stay in Europe after initially considering playing in the United States.

"I just decided to play here in Europe still. I think it's the best place to learn. And I think I'm ready to play somewhere else and get better," said Niedola, who spent last summer in the U.S. playing AAU basketball in Philadelphia.

And she will have a great coach to lead her at Nantes in Frenchman Laurent Buffard, who won the EuroLeague Women title twice and reached two other finals with USVO and lost in the semi-finals in 2008 with Ekaterinburg.

"Nantes have a really good team and really good head coach. I am a really young player and I want to work on everything in my game. And Coach Buffard can help me with that."

Another thing Niedola will also have to get used to is playing in front of upwards of 5,000 fans at Nantes' Palais des Sports de Beaulieu.