Late Revival Sees Great Britain Win

Rachael Vanderwal turned the game in the final quarter, hitting a three to switch the momentum with three minutes remaining

By Joe Hewison

Turning Point: Rachel Vanderwal's three-pointer with just over three minutes remaining not only gave Great Britain the lead but the belief they could go on and win.

Stats Don't Lie: Great Britain's 15-6 run to start the final quarter saw them erase Serbia's lead, as a number of players made big plays when it mattered.

Game Hero: Stephanie Gandy came in and scored some crucial points off the bench. The forward scored 13 with less than 18 minutes of play but most importantly they came during Great Britain's decisive comeback run.

Preparation paid off for Damian Jennings and his Great Britain side as they recovered from a seven-point deficit heading into the final quarter to win 76-68 in their EuroBasket Women opener against Serbia.

Despite holding a slender 41-38 lead at half-time, Jennings's side struggled to cope with Serbia's pressing defence in the third quarter and slipped 59-52 behind following an 11-0 run.

But a 15-6 sequence at the start of the final stanza, including Rachel Vanderwal's go-ahead three-pointer with three minutes left, put Great Britain in position to secure a morale-boosting victory and exorcise the demons of previous tight tournament defeats.

"The thing we are most proud is that we dealt with the momentum change when Serbia's press was causing us problems," said Jennings of his first competitive game in charge.

"We managed to deal with that over a period of time when it started to look like it was going their way.

"But some of the DNA that has been part of our existence in Great Britain, since Tom Maher took over particularly, has meant that we never give up.

"More than that you can work hard but to make the decisions under pressure is another thing.

"We have put a group together that is prepared to make decisions under fatigue, under pressure late in the game, and that is what we have been preparing for over the last six weeks."

Serbia's Jelena Milovanovic led all scorers with 19 but it was Great Britain's team play, demonstrated by the fact that four of their players scored in double figures, which proved decisive.

Quotes Serbia vs. Great Britain

Serbia Head Coach Marina Maljkovic

"For us it was no surprise. In Serbia with women's basketball we almost forgot what a European Championship was in recent years. We are trying to come back and it is a great success that we are here at all. They [Great Britai] showed their experience with all the tournaments they have played before."

Serbia player Jelena Milovanovic

"They [Great Britain] showed the team game they have. We tried, we made mistakes of course, but we tried to stop the fast breaks and everything but in the end they showed they were stronger and had the team game to beat us in the last minutes."

Great Britain Head Coach Damian Jennings

"We are very proud of this result. It's a great start for us. The thing we are most proud of is that we dealt with the momentum change when their press caused us a lot of problems."

Great Britain player Azania Stewart

"We knew Serbia was a strong team. They made a strong run and with their press, we struggled a bit. I'm really excited after this victory and it gives us momentum for the rest of the tournament."