GB Basketball’s women fail to qualify for Olympics after loss to Spain
Great Britain’s basketball team missed out on qualification for the 2020 Olympics after they finished bottom of Group B in the FIBA Women’s qualifying tournament following a 79-69 defeat to Spain.
After losing to China and South Korea, they needed a shock victory over the European champions in Belgrade but went down despite a valiant effort.
A three-pointer from Karlie Samuelson gave Britain an early advantage but Spain hit back and were ahead by two at the end of the first quarter.
The lead extended to 10 by halftime, despite the best efforts of Joey Leedham-Warner in particular, and at the end of the third quarter, Spain led 60-49.
A big finish was needed and although Britain won the final quarter, it was not enough and they miss out on Tokyo, with Saturday’s 82-79 defeat to South Korea, one place below them in the world rankings, proving costly.
Temi Fagbenle, who scored 21 of Britain’s points against Spain, was named in the team of the tournament.
GB lost its lottery funding after the 2012 Olympics and relied on emergency funding, so qualification for Japan was considered essential for future investment.
Chantelle Handy, Britain’s captain, told the BBC: “We did not get a ticket but I am proud we fought every game, we played hard together and we tried. Some people look at us and don’t think we should be here but we are here and we made a statement for GB basketball.
“We have sacrificed things like times with our family. The funding was not there but it did not matter. We have passion, we are like a family.”