Hannah Peacock is preparing to make her debut with the GB Senior Women as the team heads to Bilbao for a preparation tournament ahead of EuroBasket Women 2015 next month.
The Scottish rising star is one of three U20 eligible players who are still challenging for a coveted spot on the Final Round roster after they remained on a candidate list which has now been trimmed down from 16 to 14 players.
Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby and Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott are the other young players also still under consideration and with just two more cuts to make, at least one of the trio will get to taste their first ever major tournament at the senior level when the action gets underway in Hungary and Romania.
Meanwhile WBBL (Women’s British Basketball League) duo Georgia Jones and Chantelle Pressley are no longer in contention for the prestigious event after being released.
GB are heading to Bilbao to play EuroBasket Women defending champions and favourites Spain, FIBA World Championship for Women participants Canada and fellow EuroBasket Women 2015 competitors, Poland.
However, there won’t be any court time in Northern Spain for Temi Fagbenle or Steph Gandy. The former has returned to the States for a few days to attend her graduation at Harvard University, while Gandy is nursing an ongoing injury.
“We have decided to continue Steph’s rehab with the team in Spain, even though she will not suit up because of her injury,” confirmed National Teams Director, Warwick Cann. “It’s simply more effective for her rehab to be with our specialist Strength & Conditioning Coach and Physiotherapist. We made the same decision with Azania Stewart for France.
“Not only will Steph continue her rehab under our experts, but she will still be with the team listening, watching and learning from the coaching staff as we continue our EuroBasket Women preparation. The squad has been preparing well and we are satisfied with the progress so far. However there is still much hard work to do and the games against Spain, Canada and Poland will be very challenging,” added Cann.
GB will play Spain this Thursday at 8pm, Canada on Friday at 6pm and Poland on Saturday morning at 9am (UK Times).
The current candidate list is as follows:
Dominique Allen (SBS Ostrava, CZE); Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott (University of Toledo, USA); Stef Collins (Cardiff Met Archers, GBR); Ella Clark (Zamarat, ESP); Temi Fagbenle (Harvard, USA); Stephanie Gandy (Sheffield Hatters, GBR); Chantelle Handy (Ormanspor, TUR); Nicole How (Sydney Uni Flames, AUS); Erin McGarrachan (Houston Baptist, USA); Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby (Lafayette, USA); Hannah Peacock (City of Edinburgh Kool Kats, GBR); Eilidh Simpson (St Francis Brooklyn, USA); Azania Stewart (Pinkk Pesci 424, HUN); Rachael Vanderwal (Gernika Bizkaia, ESP)
