Great Britain women beat Hungary to reach Eurobasket semi-finals for first time
Thursday 4 July 2019 18:09, UK
Great Britain's women's team made history on Thursday by reaching the last four of EuroBasket and guaranteeing a place in the Olympic qualifying tournament for Tokyo 2020 with a thrilling 62-59 win over Hungary.
Coach Chema Buceta's side had already gone further in the European Championship than any team from these shores by reaching the quarter-finals in Belgrade but will now play for a medal against either Belgium or France on Saturday.
The team recovered from a slow start against Hungary to lead 32-22 at half-time and were still 10 points up with four minutes to play, but a combination of sloppy ball-handling and some big shots by the Hungarians reduced the gap to 60-59 with 45 seconds to go.
With both sides looking exhausted, Hungary then finally managed to stop the otherwise indomitable Temi Fagbenle, who scored 29 points for GB, only to miss a lay-up at the other end.
Karlie Samuelson then nervelessly converted two free-throws with six seconds left but even then the drama was not quite over, as Agnes Studer hit the rim with a potentially game-tying three-point effort at the buzzer.
Point guard Stef Collins was a member of the team at London 2012, when GB played in the men's and women's competitions as hosts, but she told the Press Association that qualifying for an Olympics by right would be "something truly special" and the end of "an incredible journey" for a programme which was only set up in 2006 and has received minimal funding.
