Great Britain lost by one point to Germany in their final group stage match at Women’s EuroBasket 2023.
GB, ranked 20th in the world, led 38-29 at half-time but let their advantage slip and missed two free throws in the final seconds as they lost to a side ranked 16 places below them.
GB had already qualified for the next stage before Sunday’s match.
There are five Olympic qualifying spots available at the tournament being co-hosted by Slovenia and Israel.
It was a strong start from GB who so far in the group had produced a comeback victory against hosts Slovenia and narrowly lost to world number six side France.
But Germany came back strongly after the break, outscoring GB 18-6 in the third quarter.
In the final quarter the lead kept switching hands, with Germany leading by five points at one stage, before GB struck back to lead by three, only for Germany to regain the lead.
And with 19 seconds remaining and Germany leading 62-61, GB’s Kristine Anigwe missed two crucial free throws.
GB captain Temi Fagbenle and Anigwe were the game’s top scorers, with 18 and 14 respectively, with Germany’s points distributed more evenly among their players.
The result means GB finish third in Group C and play the runners up from Group D on Tuesday in a qualifying match for the quarter-finals.
Germany finish second and will play the third-place team from Group D in the same stage.
France will win the group no matter the result in their final game against hosts Slovenia on Sunday and qualify directly for the last eight.
The four Women’s EuroBasket 2023 semi-finalists and the winner of a play-off competition between the losing quarter-finalists will secure places in the Fiba Olympic qualifying tournaments. France will qualify directly for the 2024 Olympics as hosts.
