Final GB Senior Women’s EuroBasket Squad Announced

Great Britain will have five EuroBasket Women debutantes in their line-up when they step out at Final Round later this week in Szombathely.

Head coach Peter Buckle and his team will take to the floor in Hungary for GB’s third consecutive appearance at the event with an array of new faces, as well as plenty of players who have significant previous experience of the tournament.

Leading the Final Round newcomers will be Temi Fagbenle, although she already has Olympic experience under her belt and also showed her prowess last summer during EuroBasket Women qualification when she led the way in scoring with a fantastic 16.6 points per game.

Eilidh Simpson also helped the team punch their ticket with some nice contributions off the bench, while Scottish star Erin Mc Garrachan is also rewarded for her input with a first major tournament at senior level.

Also exciting is the promotion of two U20 eligible players in the shape of guard Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott and centre Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby, who will find their first senior minutes in the competition.

As well as a host of Final Round rookies, there is plenty of know-how in the side with the likes of veteran guards Stef Collins and Rachael Vanderwal, as well as frontcourt operators and fellow Olympians Chantelle Handy and Azania Stewart.

The two players who miss out from the previous candidate list are Nicole How and Hannah Peacock.

“We are excited by what lies in wait this week,” said Coach Buckle.

“We have put in a lot of work and now we will test ourselves at the tournament.

“It will be a challenge, but you always expect to play the best when you go into a competition like EuroBasket Women.

“It was difficult to have to wave goodbye to Nicole [How] as injury meant she couldn’t continue which is a pity, because she would have been in our side.

“However, she never really recovered from a blow she took to the head in one of the preparation games and she has been withdrawn on medical advice due to issues around the concussion she sustained.

“As for Hannah [Peacock], she continues to make big strides and is someone who will be involved with the senior team in the future.

“She has worked hard and will be a big factor this summer for the U20 team again.”

The final Great Britain roster is as follows:

Dominique Allen (SBS Ostrava, CZE)
Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott (University of Toledo, USA)
Stef Collins (Cardiff Met Archers, GBR)
Ella Clark (Zamarat, ESP)
Temi Fagbenle (Harvard, USA)
Stephanie Gandy (Sheffield Hatters, GBR)
Chantelle Handy (Ormanspor, TUR)
Erin McGarrachan (Houston Baptist, USA)
Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby (Lafayette, USA)
Eilidh Simpson (St Francis Brooklyn, USA)
Azania Stewart (Pinkk Pesci 424, HUN)
Rachael Vanderwal (Gernika Bizkaia, ESP)

Great Britain play four games during the first phase of EuroBasket Women 2015 which is a pathway to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The campaign tips-off in Szombathely on Friday 12 June against Russia and all of the First Round games will be shown live on the BBC Sport website and via the BBC red button.

For more information on EuroBasket Women 2015 including a full schedule of games and information on venues, please check out the official tournament website.