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The history making British sportswomen...that no one is talking about.



This summer has so far been an incredible one for women’s football, with huge audiences for England women’s fixtures as the lionesses roared to the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Coverage of the finals has been unprecedented, with back page stories in British newspapers across the tournament and a record peak of 7.6  million people watching England destroy Norway 3-0 in the quarter-finals live on BBC One.

One tournament that hasn’t even made it onto the red button this summer is the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2019.

In fact, I imagine when you have read your newspaper of choice this morning, there may have been just a short Twitter-length article on GB Basketball creating history by reaching the quarter-finals of Women’s EuroBasket for the first time.

No one is talking about how Temi Fagbenle managed a 29-point haul in a comprehensive 92-71 win against Montenegro. Nothing about the quarter-final tie against Hungary later this week. No real mention of potential qualification for Tokyo 2020 on Sky Sports News.  

It has been far from a straight forward journey for GB Basketball, with the legacy from the 2012 Olympics evaporating into a battle for funds, which has seen funding stripped, parliamentary  debates and government intervention.

Not to mention a politically charged row between the leaders in the sport which saw a huge wave of resignations just one year ago.

But on the court, none of this has seemed to matter.

GB eased past Latvia with a 74-60 victory, fell to Spain in a close fixture in Riga, comfortably beat Ukraine before the decisive win against Montenegro.

WNBA star Temi Fagbenle is third in points per game, Johannah Leedham-Warner, another who was drafted in the WNBA previously, is joint 7th in assists per game and leads in the field in terms of steals.

A win in their next game would secure at least a fourth placed finish, plus an Olympic qualifier which could see a British basketball team at the Games for the second time in eight years. Not bad for a team with ‘no medal potential.’

The history makers take on Hungary on Thursday in Belgrade at 11.30am GMT. I urge the BBC to do everything that they can to make sure everyone can see it.

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