Great Britain Women fired up for Women's Eurobasket semi-final
Friday 5 July 2019 20:17, UK
England's Lionesses are not the only women's sports team from these shores making history on the international stage as Great Britain prepare to meet France in the semi-finals of the Women's EuroBasket on Saturday.
Head coach Chema Buceta's side became the first British team, male or female, to reach the last eight of the sport's European championships when they beat Montenegro in a play-off on Monday.
They then surpassed that achievement by beating Hungary in a nail-biting contest on Thursday to give themselves a chance at a medal and a guaranteed spot in February's Olympic qualifying tournament for Tokyo 2020.
Having only ever appeared at a Games when given a host-nation berth, no British basketball team has ever qualified for an Olympics in its own right but Buceta's players are not thinking about that yet.
Speaking to reporters in Belgrade, where the knockout stages of EuroBasket are being held, Jo Leedham-Warner said: "I'm just so proud of this team. We came here expecting to do something but I don't know if I can honestly say I expected us to be in the semi-finals.
"From the start we were trying to get to the quarter-finals but this team is just so special. We're just enjoying the ride, man. We're trying to get a medal now - we've actually got a chance."
GB are ranked 25th in the world but last week gave second-ranked Spain a very close game in their only defeat in the competition so far.
France are ranked fourth and have won all four of their games at EuroBasket but they were pushed very hard by Belgium, which suggests Leedham-Warner is right: GB has a chance, particularly if star player Temi Fagbenle continues her incredible run of form.
The game tips off at 5pm while Serbia meet Spain in the other semi-final, with their game starting at 7:30pm.
