GB U20 Women Victorious in Euro Opener

The GB under-20 women opened up their Division-B European Championship campaign with a 47-32 win over Norway in Sofia, Bulgaria in the final game of the day on Thursday evening, 3 July.

Great Britain led from start to finish holding their greatest lead, of 15 points, in the final quarter. GB’s Cheridene Green led her side with a team-high 11 points whilst team-mate Melita Emanuel-Carr added eight points and Captain Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby led the team with nine rebounds while also netting seven points.

Head coach, Peter Buckle was pleased with the contribution from the team:

“This was our first real test following a short preparation and we had some really positive contributions but as a team we still have lots of development to work on.

“We are very happy to get our first win of the tournament and we now have to prepare for next game against Lithuania which will be very tough.”

GB captain and leading rebounder Ottewill-Soulsby was also delighted with the win and when speaking to gbbasketball.com commented:

“I think you could see the first game nerves out there last night but we did what we needed to do and came away with the win.

“We’ve got them [nerves] out of the way now and we will be ready for Lithuania later today.”

Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott opened the scoring for GB with two from the free throw line before Shequila Joseph and Scotland’s Sarah Thomson added two more baskets to take the lead 8-4 early in the first quarter. GB played some strong defense to hold Norway to just six points while they still converted at the opposite end, finishing the quarter 12-6.

Another strong quarter by GB in the second saw them maintain the advantage. Norway managed at times to penetrate the GB defense adding just seven points to the scoreboard but GB worked well as a team, with a total of six players contributing to them extending their lead to 11 points at the half-time break, 30-19.

Both teams struggled to find their rhythm after the break and it was Norway who were first to register a score, with a driving layup from Kyrkjebo to reduce the deficit to nine points. GB’s third quarter shooting percentage of 7% (1 from 13) will be something the team will be keen to improve on as they move forward in the tournament. GB’s Emanuel-Carr closed out the quarter with a jump shot to see them lead by nine, 23-32 as they headed into the final period.

But, GB refused to drop the heads after a tough third quarter and came out strong for the final ten minutes, with leading scorer Green finding her range and adding seven of her team-high 11 points in the first half of the closing quarter to increase GB’s lead to 14, 44-30. Joseph added one from the line and Hannah Peacock closed out the scoring for GB with a jump shot that saw GB earn their first victory of the 2014 European Championship, 47-32.

The GB under-20 women play Lithuania tonight tipping off at 18:30 (GMT).

Box score.

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