Clean Sweep sees GB Women qualify for Europe Cup 2026

GB Women’s 3x3 team won all four of their Europe Cup Qualifiers, driven by the indomitable Sydney Tamara-Nicole Wallace, who led all scorers in the competition with 35 points.

As such, GB Women secured qualification for the Europe Cup 2025, hosted in Copenhagen, Denmark, in September.

Israel VS Great Britain

GB began the day with an early tip-off, facing Israel at 9:10 am (BST) on 7 June.

Israel started strong, using the agility advantage of their smaller lineup to generate open looks under the basket off the dribble. However, Wallace responded forcefully, capping off a tough drive to the basket with a powerful finish through contact, plus the foul. 3-3 after three minutes.

Israel continued their hot start, creating two more lay-up opportunities before May Revahe nailed the step-back jumpshot from deep to put Israel up 7-3.

This time, it was Cavina Rasha Rickards’ turn to respond. Some nice handling work saw her fly by her defender and to the rim. Next, she was in the right place at the right time for the put-back lay-up.

GB continued to rely on Rickards’ scoring to keep the game close, as the team remained unable to deter Israel’s scoring in the paint. 12-8 in favour of Israel with three minutes to go.

After a nicely executed pick-and-roll in which Yael Twito scored an easy lay-up, GB found themselves down 16-13 with just 44 seconds left.

Time for Wallace to take over.

Sizing up on the wing, Wallace snatches back for a quick two-pointer. Swish.

Wallace grabs the rebound, dribbling it out to start the attack. She uses a well-timed screen from Tia Freeman to create some space. Step-back, pump-fake, and her defender goes soaring by. The shot goes up, hits the front of the rim, and rolls in. GB take the 16-17 lead and the win with seconds to spare.

Slovenia VS Great Britain

Slovenia vs Great Britain began at 12:20 pm (BST) with another bucket in the paint for GB’s opposition.

Nevertheless, Wallace remained hot and fired GB into an early 2-5 lead with her outside shooting. With her confidence flowing, she put the ball on the deck, beating her defenders to the rim after some trickery on the perimeter.

This was a strong game for Marlee Ann Bal, who had four points courtesy of her outside shooting and intensity. Following her own miss, she hustled to secure the offensive rebound and put-back, beating everyone else to the ball. 5-10 GB.

Wallace showed off her ability to score on all three levels, hitting two tough mid-range jumpers to maintain GB’s healthy lead down the stretch.

GB ran out comfortable winners in this one, 10-17.

Great Britain VS Lithuania

GB’s final match of the day was versus Lithuania at 3:15 pm (BST).

This would prove GB’s most dominant match of the tournament, yet again led by Wallace’s prolific scoring. She had 10 in GB’s 21-11 convincing victory, using her crafty handle to produce a variety of finishes at the rim.

Rickards similarly provided a scoring punch with seven points of her own, demonstrating a poise that GB will no doubt rely on in the Europe Cup in Copenhagen.

Great Britain VS Italy

Ranked 11th in the world, Italy would prove GB’s toughest opponent in this qualification campaign. However, after losses to Lithuania and Slovenia, Italy had already missed out on qualification to the Europe Cup.

After a cagey start, Italy managed to stretch out a 0-4 lead, with all their starters converting lay-ups off the dribble.

GB came roaring back with a run of their own, kick-started by yet another two-pointer from Wallace. Rickards dropped in a seemingly impossible lay-up with her arm wrapped around her defender, and then Ball splashed in a textbook jump-shot to tie the game at 5-5.

This began a classic ‘game of runs’ where each side’s punch was met with a stronger response. Italy ran out to a 5-8 lead, spearheaded by some quality ball movement by Elisa Pinzan, but GB responded in kind with two-pointers from Freeman and Wallace to take back the lead 13-9.

With just one minute left on the clock, Pinzan cashed in another three and then found Carlotta Gianolla inside for the easy lay-up, bringing the game to 14-13 in GB’s favour.

Nevertheless, GB held on, winning the match 15-13 and ensuring a perfect record in their successful qualification run for the Europe Cup 2025.