Great Britain Under-20’s suffered their third loss in a row at the European Championships after being beaten 72-38 by Croatia in Eilat, Israel, on Thursday.
Chema Buceta’s side finish fourth in Group B with a 2-3 record and will now play for 5th place at best – a feat they also managed last summer.
Gabby Nikitiniate top scored with a team-high 12 points with Shanice Norton adding eight points, while Abigail Johnson collected 10 rebounds.
GB lose final Group B game 72-38 against Croatia 🇭🇷 to finish 4th with 2-3 record. @gabsszz team-high 12pts. 🇨🇿 next on Sat. #FIBAU20Europe pic.twitter.com/S7YZ1sZEit
— Hoopsfix Women (@HoopsfixWomen) July 13, 2017
GB made a bright start with a 7-0 run, but an 18-2 response from Croatia put them in control and they never looked back. A nice move from Shanice Norton ended the first at 20-11 and GB cut the gap to six early in the second.
Croatia strengthened their grip on the game with another dominant run as they established a 42-22 advantage heading into the half-time break.
There was no way back for GB in the third as they were held to just six points with Croatia increasing their lead to 60-28.
GB kept battling throughout with the bench given extended court-time in the final period as they were narrowly edged out 12-10 as the defeat was confirmed.
Note: Johnson, Taylor, Norton, Nikitinaite & Stevens were the starters with captain Georgia Gayle missing out through injury.
GB U20s return to action on Saturday as they begin the 5th-8th classification round against Czech Republic at 4:15pm UK time.
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