Reigning World U25 Champions, Great Britain, have progressed to the semi-final of the 2019 Women’s U25 World Championship in Suphanburi, Thailand after seeing off Turkey, 70-15, in the quarter-final.
Despite a relatively slow start by the Great Britain team, allowing Turkey to stay with them for the first few minutes of the game, GB turned on the defensive pressure and went on a 16-0 run to break away, taking the first quarter 21-6.
GB kept the defence strong throughout the game, keeping Turkey down to just another 9 points, and they capitalised at the offensive end by scoring 31 points from the turnovers of their opposition. GB won the other three quarters 16-2, 18-5 and 15-2 to take the victory and progress to the next stage of the competition.
There were four players in double figures for Great Britain, led by captain Joy Haizelden’s 16 points, Siobhan Fitzpatrick with 14 points, Lucy Robinson and Jade Atkins both with 12 points. For Turkey, Meryem Tan led their scoring with 7 points.
Great Britain will now play Australia in the semi-final and Turkey will meet South Africa in the 5-8 placing game.
Great Britain’s Siobhan Fitzpatrick, said:
“The game went really well today, everyone contributed, we had that all-in mentality throughout the team, both on and off the floor. I think for me personally I could have finished the “chippies” as Miles likes to call them rather than wait for the second opportunities. As we progress through the tournament, it is going to be crucial we finish those first chance opportunities as we won’t get the opportunities for boards against Australia, and then hopefully in the final, like we have so far.
“I think it’s been quite difficult in terms of we’ve had quite an easy pool and we’ve tried to practice as much of the concepts as we can for the harder teams coming up, and for some people it’s their first chance performing on this world stage, so it’s good to get some nerves out the way now and in the early group stages so when it counts, everyone will be able to perform and contribute in the GB style.”
Commenting on the semi-final against Australia, Fitzpatrick said:
“I think it’s really important that as a team we stay composed, we apply what we have put in practice both at home in Sheffield and here in Thailand as a team. We’ve watched a lot of video footage of them and we’ve seen them perform against USA yesterday, so we know who the threats are, so it’s just a time to execute.”
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