Newsletter

Great Britain thrash Estonia in EuroBasket qualifier to keep finals hopes alive

Temi Fagbenle had 23 points and seven rebounds for GB in only 22 minutes on court

Great Britain’s women thrashed Estonia 100-45 in their fifth EuroBasket qualifier to stay in contention for a place in this year’s finals.

Temi Fagbenle led GB’s scoring with 23 points and Chantelle Handy added 11 as all 12 players scored in Manchester.

The hosts opened up a double-figure advantage in the first quarter and led 48-17 at half-time.

GB could qualify as one of the best second-placed teams with a convincing win over Portugal at home on Sunday.

Greece have now qualified as group winners despite losing 66-60 in Portugal, who now must beat GB in that game in order to stand a chance of qualifying.

Tough defence and speed in attacking transition saw Great Britain move into a 20-point lead within the first 16 minutes.

Injury had kept Fagbenle out of GB’s line-up in the three-point defeat in Tallinn 16 months ago and Estonia struggled to contain her on Thursday.

She scored 10 points in a row at the end of the first quarter and reached 19 points after just 17 minutes on court before returning in the fourth quarter to add four more.

“It’s not every day you see a score like this so that means we’re doing something well offensively,” Fagbenle said.

“We kept them to 45 points so that’s promising for us as a defensive team.”

GB last scored in three figures in their first-ever game at the National Performance Centre in Belle Vue in 2016, when they beat Albania 122-36.

Group G table

Greece5413553159+40
Portugal 5323302958+35
Great Britain5233763317+45
Estonia5142733936-120

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending