 Sarah McKay had 20 points in just 20 minutes on court |
Sarah McKay scored 20 points and took 12 rebounds in just 20 minutes on court to lead GB to a crucial 77-61 win over Bosnia in Sarajevo. The win means Mark Clark's team will escape relegation from Division A if they can win in Romania on Monday. The game stayed close until the end of the third quarter, when a three-pointer from Sarah Naylor sparked a 6-0 run. Naylor then splashed another as GB went on an 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter to secure a vital win. Six foot seven inch centre McKay had six points in that run and contributed every time she was on the court, settling any early nerves the team had with six points in GB's early 11-9 lead. Kim Butler again featured strongly in GB's inside game with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but it was Naylor's 10 points off the bench that will have given Clark the biggest boost.  | The more rotation we could do the better - positive contributions from everyone was always going to help |
Scoreless so far in the relegation series, the Sheffield guard connected on two three-pointers at a time when Bosnia looked capable of taking the game down to the wire. Seven of her points came in GB's 14-2 start to the final period. "We had a good second half," said Clark. "We knew we had two really difficult games left so the more rotation we could do the better and positive contributions from everyone was always going to help. "Sarah Naylor got a long extended time and Sally Kaznica did very well coming off the bench. Sarah McKay had another solid game as well."
 Sarah Naylor came off the bench to spark GB with 10 points |
GB need to avoid relegation back to Division B to stay in contention to take a hosts' spot in the 2012 Olympics on the basis of being competitive at the top level in Europe. Despite Tuesday's narrow defeat at home by Finland, they can escape the drop with a win against group leaders Romania in Targoviste on Monday because they have the better of the Finns in a three-way tie. "We've got a difficult travel day tomorrow," said Clark. "But hopefully we will have a full day's practice on Sunday. "We were close to beating them (Romania) in Nottingham so hopefully we will bring some different things to the floor that will help us on Monday and we will put in a great performance."
|
Bookmark with:
What are these?