GB U18 Women have qualified for the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA U18 Women’s EuroBasket Division B, having won three of their four group stage fixtures.

GB came into this tournament confident they could build on their sixth-place finish in last year’s competition. If they are to secure a top-three position this year, they would earn promotion to Division A for EuroBasket 2026.

Led by Head Coach Krumesh Patel, GB were drawn into Group D alongside Bulgaria, Croatia, Norway, and Denmark.

Croatia VS Great Britain

GB began their campaign against Croatia, the most reputable and challenging team they would face at this stage.

GB started well, attacking the basket effectively, converting layups and short jumpers and getting to the free throw line consistently. Athena Thompson had a strong scoring quarter with seven, capped off by a three-point beam midway through the first to put GB up 6-15.

However, some stingy Croatian defence and accurate shooting from deep evened things up, with Croatia taking the two-point lead at the buzzer through Una Majstorovic’s put-back layup.

Athena Thompson led all scorers with 24 points

The second quarter began as a cagey affair, with neither team able to string multiple successful possessions together.

GB’s most consistent scorers in this one, Thompson and Irene Oboavwoduo, picked up the slack, finding ways to create shots in the paint and off the dribble. Their scoring nouse pushed GB to a 37-40 lead to end the half.

With Thompson and Bo Guttormsdottir Frost hitting consecutive three-pointers to start the third, GB looked in control. FIBA highlighted Bo as ‘one to look out for’ due to her versatility on offence and lethal shooting from deep.

Nevertheless, the Croatian defence, led by the indomitable Lea Vukic, dug in, limiting GB to just 15 points in the quarter, and taking the slim 59-55 lead going into the fourth and final quarter.

GB again turned to Thompson and Oboavwoduo to drive their scoring, supplemented by a Maise Keyes three-pointer and a Holly Ensoll short jumper with just over a minute left to play, cutting the Croatian lead to two.

Thompson tied the game with 53 seconds left after her driving layup bounced three times off the back iron before dropping in.

Lena Bilic attacked a Maisie Keyes close-out on the fastbreak, stopped, spun, and nailed a difficult fadeaway jumpshot, giving Croatia the lead with 20 seconds to spare.

heartbreakinglyThompson was able to come back the other way, forcing her way to the basket and drawing a foul. But after missing one of her two free throws, GB remained a point behind. They were given an opportunity to steal the lead at the death after Croatia Majstorovic missed both of her own foul shots, but Keyes’s three-pointer fell just short, and GB lost in heartbreaking fashion.

GB lost by just one point to Croatia

Final Score: CRO 70 / GBR 69

Thompson led all scorers with 24, whilst Oboavwoduo added 12 along with six rebounds.

You can watch the full game on the FIBA YouTube channel below.

Great Britain VS Norway

After losing narrowly in their opening fixture, GB left nothing to chance in their second match against Norway.

GB put on a defensive clinic, shutting out Norway entirely for the first three and a half minutes of the game, and limiting them to just one made basket for the entire first quarter.

On the other end, they spread the scoring evenly, buoyed by a spark off the bench courtesy of Ayla Habbal and Emma Briggs.

Ayla Habbal in action against Denmark

The second quarter followed much the same script as GB notched 26 points to Norway’s six.

With the win all but secured in the first half, GB was able to focus on perfecting their offensive process, giving their bench unit greater opportunity. Briggs and Fleur Gamal benefited the most from this, scoring 11 points each in the game.

Come the final buzzer, GB had won 90-36, one of the biggest victories in the nation’s history.

Final Score: GBR 90 / NOR 36

Click below to watch the full game. 

Bulgaria VS Great Britain

Despite an awesome victory in their second game of this year’s EuroBasket, GB’s next fixture against Bulgaria remained a stiff challenge.

Bulgaria finished fourth in last year’s competition, narrowly losing to eventual winners Montenegro in the Semi-Finals and missing out on promotion to Division A of the Women’s U18 EuroBasket by one position.

Bulgaria won their opening game against Denmark in thrilling fashion. They were down by five points with just 9.2 seconds to spare when Ivayla Bakalova hit a three-point shot. With just 0.5 seconds on the clock, Alberte Finderup attempted to inbound the ball, but accidentally hit the underside of her own backboard, and the ball bounced out before any player had possession, meaning Bulgaria took possession and had half a second to get a shot off.

Somehow, the ball found 45 again, who stepped into another three with no hesitation, knocking it down and winning the match in the most unlikely manner. Watch the final seconds of the match here, you will not regret it.

Bulgaria lost their next match against Croatia 91-70, meaning they arrived at their fixture with GB on even footing.

GB started hot, scoring the first 10 points of the match. Bo Guttormsdottir Frost and Irene Oboavwoduo hit back-to-back three-pointers before Athena Thompson added a fastbreak layup less than two minutes in.

Bulgaria worked their way back into the match, hardening their defensive posture and splashing in multiple jump shots from behind the arc. At the end of the first period, GB retained a slim 15-19 lead.

Thompson continued her fine shooting form

GB began the second quarter similarly to the first, with an offensive barrage. Fleur Gamal again brought the requisite energy, finding ways to score under the basket, whilst Guttormsdottir Frost continued her impressive shooting performance.

Athena Thompson maintained her impressive form from the field, scoring 10 points in the second quarter alone.

GB went into the half up 26-46.

Bo demonstrated yet again why FIBA was right to identify her as ‘one to look out for’ as she racked up another two three-point makes early in the third. The rest of the quarter was fairly scrappy, marred by momentum-breaking fouls, but this allowed GB to sustain their wide lead going into the fourth.

With another sizeable margin going into the final quarter, GB was able to slow things down, using the clock to their advantage, and emerging victorious 44-76.

Bo made all four of her threes against Bulgaira

Final Score: BUL 44 / GBR 76

Watch the full game below.

Great Britain VS Denmark

GB needed to win their final group game against Denmark in order to secure qualification to the next round of the EuroBasket.

Confidence was high for Head Coach Patel’s side, having won two of their first three fixtures, only losing narrowly to Croatia.

Irene Oboavwoduo was aggressive to start the match, driving hard to the basket and earning herself multiple trips to the free throw line, and a layup in the paint.

After yet another Guttormsdottir Frost three, and a mid-range jumper converted by Thompson, GB took a comfortable 12-5 lead. However, Denmark hit back hard, moving the ball well to create three good looks at the rim, tying the game up.

Coach Patel led GB to three out of four wins in the group stage

Despite some more aggressive play from Thompson and three-pointers off the bench by Keyes and Gamal, Denmark refused to let GB create significant separation, with the quarter finishing 25-21.

The second quarter started shakily for GB, allowing Denmark to seize the lead through some nice play by Ella Fischer and a layup by Elisa Gurkan-Douglas.

Eva-Grace Yebila and Emma Briggs fought back with scores of their own, setting up a nice run for GB, capped off by a Bo three and an Oboavwoduo layup. Thompson finished the quarter in control, and GB went into the half up 47-36.

The second half followed much the same tune as the first.

The third quarter in particular saw GB rely on their outside shooting to counter Denmark’s consistent ability to get to the free-throw line.

In the fourth, Holly Ensoll and Athena Thompson scored the majority of GB’s points, carrying their country to an 89-67 victory and into the Quarter-Finals.

GB's bench showed out against Denmark

Final Score: GBR 89 / DEN 67

GB won every quarter in this one and thoroughly deserved their victory.

Quarter-Finals Await

Having qualified for the Quarter-Finals of this year’s EuroBasket, GB will face Lithuania on Friday, 11 July, at 4:00 pm (BST).

Lithuania won all five of their group games convincingly against Iceland, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their smallest margin of victory game in their opening match against Iceland, in which they won by 26 points, scoring 99.

This will no doubt prove GB’s toughest challenge of the tournament thus far. However, their performance against the highly-rated Croatian team will give a sense of confidence to Coach Patel’s side that they can compete at the highest level in this tournament.

GB further boasts the third most prolific scorer (minimum four games played) in the tournament so far in Athena Thompson, who will strike fear in the Lithuanian defence. In addition, Bo Guttormsdottir Frost ranks third in three-point field goal percentage, at a staggering 55% on the joint most made per game at 2.8.

Go to the FIBA YouTube channel to watch the game live.