GB Women Tip Off EuroBasket 2025 Preparations

The preparation fixtures for the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket get underway for GB Women’s Senior team on 5 June, with Head Coach Anna Montañana getting her first look at her side in high-level competition after a week in training camp.

Their tour will begin in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, in the alpine home of Ženski košarkarski klub Kranjska Gora – Jesenice. Here, GB Women face off against the Slovenian national team, which co-hosted the competition in 2023.

Slovenia enjoyed a successful qualification campaign, winning all but one of their 6 games in Group B, led by veteran point guard Teja Oblak, sister of Atlético Madrid footballer Jan Oblak, and dominant centre Eva Lisec. 2005-born starlet Ajša Sivka, former 2023 FIBA U18 Women's European Championship MVP and recent draftee of the Chicago Sky in the WNBA, should also feature heavily in GB's game against Slovenia on June 5.

The last time these two nations met in a competitive fixture was in the opener of the 2023 Women’s EuroBasket, in which GB Women overcame an early 18-point deficit to defeat Slovenia 76-71. Holly Winterburn unleashed a three-point barrage to claw GB back into the game, and will be looking for a repeat of such successes to ensure a positive feeling ahead of this year’s EuroBasket competition.

GB Women will then travel to Athens, where they will play Greece, and Lithuania on 10, 11, and finally travel to Serbia to play on 14 June.

Greece participated in Group I of the EuroBasket Qualifiers along with the three other hosts of this year’s competition as preparation for the tournament, finishing in fourth place behind the Czech Republic, Germany, and Italy.

Greece bested GB Women in their last two match-ups as part of the 2023 Qualifiers, beating them 66-73 in November 2021, in Manchester, and 72-65 in Rhodes. Golden State Valkyries sensation Temi Fagbenle starred in the second fixture, leading the team with 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. However, GB will be without their leading scorer for the upcoming preparation games and will have to lean on their squad depth to see them through.

The last time GB Women played Lithuania was in June of 2014 as part of the qualification tournament for the 2015 competition, where Lithuania won 63-70.

Lithuania finished in second place in their qualification group behind Belgium, driven by strong performances from 19-year-old Justė Jocytė of Uni Girona CB and experienced centre Giedrė Labuckienė of Kibirkštis Vilnius, in Lithuania.

In their final fixture before the tournament begins for GB against Spain on 19 June, they compete against two-time EuroBasket champions Serbia on 14 June.

Serbia have a strong record against GB, emerging victorious from their last three encounters, including knocking GB Women out of the 2023 EuroBasket in heartbreaking fashion. Nevertheless, the gap between the two nations has been closing, and no doubt with the improvements we have seen to date, GB will feel they can come away with a positive result.

The squad available for selection for Coach Montañana is as follows:

Samantha Ashby - Oaklands Wolves

Shanice Beckford-Norton - Oaklands Wolves

Kirsty Brown - Caledonia Gladiators

Temitope Fagbenle - Besiktas (Unavailable for prep games but will compete in EuroBasket)

Cheridene Green - Unattached

Shauna Harrison - Sheffield Hatters

Kitty (Catriona) Henderson - Columbia College

Katie Januszewska - Leicester Riders

Hannah Jump - Botas

McKenzie Mathurin - Broken Arrow HS

Hannah Robb - Caledonia Gladiators

Savannah Wilkinson - Elitzur Holon

Holly Winterburn – Besiktas