Savannah Wilkinson scored 23 points in GB's second game at the FIBA U20 Women's Euros
23 points for Savannah Wilkinson and an improved team performance were highlights for Great Britain despite a 76-61 defeat to Romania at the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship in Oradea on Sunday.
Wilkinson was joined by Imani Whittington and Ire Ozzy-Momodu with Sarah Round and Loren Christie joining the starting five for the first time.
It was Ozzy-Momodu, the 6'2 centre and former WEABL MVP, who got GB on the board and as the first quarter progressed, it was the British who established a small advantage. A Shauna Harrison jumper for 3 pushed that lead out to 4 while another later increased it to 9. An eleven point margin against the hosts (26-15) going into the second was only what GB had deserved.
That advantage was up to 12 when Savannah Wilkinson found her range from downtown in the second. The Florida State guard turned provider for Loren Christie with 4:16 remaining in the half and it felt like a healthy advantage would be the sign of a first half job well done, if it could be maintained. Only a late 3 pointer from Podar for Romania reduced GB's lead to 10 as the teams headed for a breather (36-26).
But the feel of the game was different in the third quarter. An 11-0 run for Romania to restart proceedings set the tone, with GB unable to find their feet under intense pressure. But they composed and found a way with a Whittington jumper pushing the lead back out to 4. Now it was nip and tuck, with several lead changes but it was the hosts who struck out in front and led by five going into the last.
There was plenty of willing from GB to stay in touch with Romania, a number of these players meeting from the U18 Women's Quarter Final in Dublin twelve months ago in which Britain pulled off an upset win. Here though, the closest GB could get to their opponents was to within 3 and when Armanu's 3-point jumper extended Romania's margin to 10 with 2:44 to play, it seemed too much for Britain to bridge and so it proved.
Romania won it 76-61, with Britain going into Monday's game against Lithuania (1515 BST) with Wilkinson's 23 points backed up by the equally consistent Christie (9p, 9r) & Ozzy-Momodu (6p, 10r) plus 8 points for Harrison.
Full stats are available via the FIBA site.
GB Head Coach Jeff Jones told
gbbasketball.com; "It was a similar scoreline to Saturday but a much better performance. If I'm being honest, Romania have better balance than Israel and are a better team. We shot the ball better but when the pressure came, we didn't play with composure."
"But we had a good 22-25 minutes of basketball against a good team and they're getting a basketball education in spades this week. Hopefully they won't be too downhearted going into a very difficult game on Monday."