GB Senior Women Finish Minsk Tournament with Loss to Belarus

By Bradley Gains on May 25, 2017

GB Senior Women closed out the Memorial Cup tournament in Minsk with a 77-55 loss against Belarus.

The two sides met in a friendly on Monday with Belarus winning 64-62, but this was a more convincing display from the hosts.

Janice Monakana – who did not play in Wednesday’s victory – led GB with a game-high 16 points with Azania Stewart adding 13 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

Result. GB Senior Women beaten 77-55 by Belarus in their final game of the tournament in Minsk. @JaniceMonakana w/ team-high 16pts. 🇬🇧🏀 pic.twitter.com/hwmOYfQbKT

— Hoopsfix Women (@HoopsfixWomen) May 25, 2017

Belarus made a strong start with a 12-2 opening with Stewart the only scorer for GB in the early stages, whilst also picking up two fouls.

Rachael Vanderwal – another DNP yesterday – fired in a triple after a 1-of-9 start from the field for the visitors. Belarus stretched their lead with a 7-0 run before Monakana scored five points in a row to cut the gap to 19-10.

Mollie Campbell continued the run with a score from downtown, and scored seven points in the period as GB reduced their arrears to six on a three from Chantelle Handy.

However, Belarus restored control with an 8-0 close to leave GB trailing 38-24 heading into the half-time break.

Monakana moved into double figures with an early 3-pointer in the third, but Belarus continued their dominance to open up a 21-point advantage. GB were held to just a single point in the final 4:40 of the quarter as Belarus moved into a 61-35 lead.

GB opened the fourth with an 11-2 run including six points for Stewart in a spirited response and the visitors took the final period 20-16 to finish strong.

Despite missing a couple of key players, Belarus still had a strong roster and were paced by Viktoriya Hasper’s 12 points and eight rebounds.

Box score.

Note: Another change to the starting lineup was made with Eilidh Simpson rewarded for her impressive display against Belarus U20s as she joined Collins, Emanuel-Carr, Handy and Stewart.

Stewart was named as GB’s best player of the tournament with GB finishing third with an inferior points difference behind Argentina and winners, Belarus.

Belarus 1-1 (+18), Argentina 1-1 (+3), GB 1-1 (-21)

GB finish their trip to Belarus with a 2-2 record and will next meet up for a camp in June.

Image credit: BelarusBasketFederation

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