Great Britain women aiming for EuroBasket 2017 qualification
BySportsbeat
Published 20/10/2016 at 15:20 GMT
Great Britain's women will hope to follow their male counterparts in qualifying for next year's EuroBasket, when they face Italy and Albania in qualifiers next month.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Head coach Chema Buceta has named an outline 23-woman squad for the decisive fixtures, with only victory keeping their chances of qualification alive.
The squad will meet for a camp on November 13, before travelling to Italy for the game six days later, they then head to Albania for their final Group C fixture on the 23rd.
Great Britain currently sit third in their group, with two wins from four matches, while unbeaten Italy top the group.
Barking Abbey Crusaders' Christina Gaskin returns to the squad for the first time since sustaining a cruciate ligament injury on international duty in 2014.
And with years of experience playing college basketball in America now under her belt, the 23-year-old is overjoyed to be back in the fold.
"I am very excited to have been named in the preliminary GB squad," the former Fordham University player told the Southend Echo.
"Having taken a hiatus from competitive basketball for a little while I was working in New York City, it truly does feel great to be back competing.
"There are a lot of very good athletes, as well as some great friends, named in the squad.
"And, after only really being back competing for six months, I feel very grateful to be included.
"Basketball in the US has a tremendous amount of funding. But the caveat to that is that it's an extremely high pressure environment.
"That creates a win at all costs mentality. It took me a long time to appreciate basketball as a business.
"But, all in all, I met some wonderful people, travelled a lot and escaped debt free from university, which I am immensely grateful for."
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