GB U20 Women Upset Latvia, Secure 2nd Round Place

The Great Britain Under-20 women produced a huge upset at the European Championships today as they defeated last year’s bronze medalists Latvia 71-64.

The win gave them their first victory of this year’s campaign, and guarantees them a place in the second round.

Despite going down after the first quarter, a huge 26-4 run across the second and third periods saw Britain stun the Latvians. Head Coach Damian Jennings was understandably delighted:

“We are obviously very pleased with the win, the 27 point turnaround and what this means going into the next round. But for me personally, I was very proud of the character and class that we personified.

“We represented Great Britain in the right way today, and the players and staff should be very proud of that performance.”

Renee Busch (pictured) led GB with 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds, Katrin Chiemeka added 11 points and 8 rebounds, Kristy Sheils 7 points, and Temi Fagbenle 6 points and 10rebounds. Ella Clark had a nice all around game with 5 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks.

You can find a full game report, box score and play by play here.

GB will face Spain on Saturday in their final first round game, and they’ll hope that the Latvians bounce back to beat Slovak Republic to send them into the next round in second place in the group.

Image: FIBA Europe