Trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, GB came back to win the contest 76-71 following a gripping contest between a Teja-Oblak-inspired Slovenia and Coach Chema Buceta’s GB, who had all five starters score in double figures on the night.
Buoyed by their homecourt advantage and a vociferous crowd, the Slovenians stormed into the ascendancy early on and had amassed an almost 20-point advantage by the early stages of the second quarter.
A 16-0 run from GB brought them powering back into the contest and trailing by just five at half-time.
Coach Buceta’s side won the second, third and fourth quarters and benefitted from timely scoring runs from individual players – with Holly Winterburn, Kristine Anigwe, Kiki Herbert-Harrigan, Sydney Wallace and Temi Fagbenle all taking their turn to bear the scoring load.
Taking the lead for the first time towards the end of the third quarter, GB would never relinquish the advantage and see out a deserved win to get their EuroBasket 2023 campaign off to the perfect start.
🤩 "I couldn't have done it without my teammates."@KristineAnigwe reflects on a monster performance as she won TCL Player of the Game in Game One of @EuroBasketWomen!
— Great Britain Basketball (@gbbasketball) June 15, 2023
👇Click below to watch Game Two vs France tomorrow.#BritishBasketball #DareToDream #EuroBasketWomen
“I told the players it was a victory of faith. We really believed in ourselves, we were 18 points down in the first, but we focused on the things we had to do to improve and we did it.
“It’s a very important win for us, it’s the first game of the competition and it’s a better to win then to lose! I want to congratulate our players, they showed character and showed they can do big things here.”
Watch Great Britain in action on Friday against France in their second game of Women’s EuroBasket LIVE on GB Basketball TV.
