Great Britain U20 Women Fall to Lithuania in Opener

By Sam Neter on July 10, 2016

Great Britain were locked down 61-42 by tournament frontrunners Lithuania on day one of the FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship 2016 in Podgorica.

Despite taking good care of the ball and benefitting from 24 points by Kennedy Leonard on her major tournament debut with the team, GB were unable to overthrow a powerful Lithuanian side who controlled the paint and the boards.

Bad day in offence today but great effort in defense of our U20 @gbbasketball against a good Lithuanian team. Now lets get ready for next!

— Jose Maria Buceta (@chemabuceta) July 9, 2016

Having initially suffered from a cold start, GB fought back well and found some rhythm to give themselves a foothold in the contest at 15-13 after the opening ten minutes.

But Lithuania then pushed hard on the accelerator and looked to be out of sight at half-time when they moved 35-20 ahead.

However, a strong start to the third quarter by GB with some of their best moments of the game saw the deficit trimmed to single figures – only for Lithuania to find a higher gear and make the most of having four different players in double-digits as they rode to a comfortable victory.

Head Coach, Jose Maria ‘Chema’ Buceta and his players will play their second Group game onMonday 11 July against Israel in 4.45pm tip-off.

For the full game statistics click HERE.

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