Standard Life GB Women EuroBasket 2011 Roster Released

With less than a week from their biggest challenge before the 2012 London Olympics, the final roster of the Standard Life GB Women for the EuroBasket 2011 was released on Tuesday.

Great Britain coach Tom Maher, who has transformed GB into a formidable squad, released the final 12 players, which he described as a “hardworking” group and could pull of some surprises in the upcoming European Championships.

Jo Leedham, who is coming off from an injury was named to the squad, along with the core of the squad that had a surprising strong performance last year, especially during the EuroBasket Qualifying Tournament.

“We have a good hardworking group, a mixture of experienced players with new up-and-coming talent,” Maher said. “We have kept a core of the squad from last year which provides consistency and a platform for continued development.”

Maher and the rest of the GB women pool underwent rigorous training for the past two months, competing in tough warmup tournaments, where they still showed some signs of inconsistencies. But despite their struggles, Maher remains confident about their chances, saying that the team learned a lot from their training camp.

“We feel confident in the work that has been put in over the last six weeks,” Maher said. “Our preparation has been a key. We have a challenging pool group and we need to ensure as individuals and as a team that we do our best.”

The 12-player squad will have their final warm-up game on Wednesday against Slovakia before flying to Poland for the European Championships.

Drawn in Group B, Great Britain will kick off the tournament against Belarus this Saturday, before facing Czech Republic and Israel, respectively.

Standard Life GB Women EuroBasket 2011 Roster

• Jo Leedham
• Rose Anderson
• Kim Butler
• Kate Butters
• Stef Collins
• Chantelle Handy
• Ros Mason
• Julie Page
• Natalie Stafford
• Azania Stewart
• Lauren Thomas-Johnson
• Rachel Vanderwall