England U18 Women’s Final 12 Selected for Euros

The England U18 Women have selected their final 12 players for this years U18 Division B European Championships.

The squad was named after a successful weekend camp which included games against the Netherlands at Oaklands College. Spectators gathered to see England win 69-51 Saturday night and returned for a close encounter Sunday afternoon in which England edged out the Dutch 56-51.

England dominated the boards and shot a high field goal percentage in the first game, led by WBBL Young Player of the Year Savannah Wilkinson who finished with a 16pt & 12reb double-double. The second game was a close contest throughout with England ultimately closing the game out from the foul line in a game that could have gone either way.

“We are delighted with the squad going into this year’s championships, it was a deep year coming in and a very difficult selection process,” Head Coach Lee Ryan said.

“The squad is a testament to the growth we have seen in performance basketball at this age group; 7 of the 12 players selected were not in the equivalent u16 squad in 2013. We are still discovering what makes us tick and fine tuning but its an exciting group to work with, the trip to Slovenia will give us the chance to expand on the principals the players have already adopted.”

England U18 Women Final Squad

Gina Brierley – Manchester Mystics
Kyla Nelson – Oaklands Wolves
Gabriele Nikitinaite – Sevenoaks Suns
Abby Lowe – Barking Abbey
Vicky Gray – Oaklands Wolves
Georgia Gayle – Sheffield Hatters
Savannah Wilkinson – Barking Abbey
Jess Davies – Leicester Riders
Freya Cooney – Ipswich Bobcats
Melanie George – Oaklands Wolves
Eleanor Jones – Leicester Riders
Paige Robinson – Oaklands Wolves

England captain Kyla Nelson added:

“These games were a great test and we made a huge step forward as a team. We are starting to understand our playing style and what is needed to win games at this level. There are still key areas that we need to improve upon but I am confident we will deliver on them by the time tournament starts. We have shown we can learn fast and make the necessary changes in the moment that gave us the foundation to be successful. We are looking forward to another step in Slovenia this week.”

The England team flew out to Slovenia on Thursday for a two game series against Division A side Slovenia in their last warm up games before the FIBA Division B Europeans which commence on the 30th July.