ENERGETIC SHANICE SETS THE TONE IN WIN OVER DENMARK
Great Britain’s Shanice Beckford-Norton started Thursday’s win against Denmark like always when she dons the national team colours.
Like an energiser bunny after an additional coffee, the Oaklands Wolves guard was relentless, defensively. She set the tone for GB’s game, scoring five of her side’s first seven points and demonstrating her defensive prowess.
“At times, I sometimes feel that I do have to tame it, slow things down,” Beckford-Norton said with a smile.
“But I just want to bring that tenacity on the court, defence and some scoring is what I want to contribute to this team and that I can do well for this team, get us going, maintaining that.”
Causing Denmark problems, their head coach Alva Stark might have been the most relieved person inside the National Basketball Performance Centre when Beckford-Norton was taken off for the first time with 6:39 left in the first quarter.
As the game progressed, the damage was slowly being done.
Despite the Danes putting pressure on GB, Anna Montañana’s side came away with a 75-62 victory, improving to 2-1 in Group D of the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers. Beckford-Norton posted 12 points on 3/5 shooting, two rebounds, and two steals in just 13 minutes.
She was also a perfect 5/5 from the free throw line, a stat that all coaches, especially Montañana loves.
“We have players that can score, and opposition always thinks of Holly [Winterburn] and Temi [Fagbenle], but we have so many other weapons, and Shanice is one of them,” Montañana says.
“We like to play collective offence and we want everybody to be ready but Shanice is a player who can adjust her role and still play her style; she a tough player, and really important to us. She does things and puts in the effort that is often forgotten on stats that help.”
Beckford-Norton added: “Coach trusts me to play good defence on some of the best players on the opposing team, and it’s a matter of believing in myself and keeping it under control but using the aggression and the fire when we need it.”
Another player who brought the aggression was Beckford-Norton’s Oaklands team-mate Sam Ashby, who scored 13 points, all in the second half.
“We came out for the second half and locked into what coach told us, and we were switched on, I feel,” Beckford-Norton said. “Even when we made a mistake, we stayed locked in.
“Playing with Sam at Oaklands has been great; we connect well, and the fact that we can bring what we have at Oaklands and bring it to the national team is perfect for us, and we enjoy playing together.”
Great Britain are next in action on Sunday when they travel to Sweden. For more information on how you can follow, please follow Great Britain Basketball on YouTube, X and Instagram.