GB U16 Women Suffer First Loss at Hands of Sweden

Great Britain Under-16 Women suffered their first loss with a 43-60 defeat at the hands of Sweden at the FIBA U16 Women’s European Championship in Podgorica on Friday.

Lilly Annim produced a double-double (10 points, 14 rebounds) with backing from Ipswich’s Cameron Taylor-Willis (9 points, four rebounds) and Amelia Sandie’s 7 points.

“We started really well today defensively, holding one of the better teams in the tournament to just nine points,” GB Head Coach Kenrick Liburd commented.

“But we missed some really easy stuff which probably could have been more of a cushion later in the game.

“We got a little bit rattled from Swedish pressure which we knew was going to come. That forced us into bad situations. Turning it over as much as we did is always going to make it difficult but having said that, we won the rebounding battle by 9.

“We gave ourselves a chance when we got it back to 13 late on. But we didn’t have enough to get us over the line.

“It’s a good learning experience. We’ll lick our wounds and we’ll be better on Saturday to battle again.”

Box score.

With the game tied at 9 after the opening period, Sweden pulled away in the second to open up a double digit lead by halftime. GB were unable to recover from 42 turnovers, as Sweden led by 17 heading into the fourth and cruised to the win, with GB dropping to 1-1 in Group A.

Montenegro await GB on Saturday night (1930 BST) before the players head to the first rest day.

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