Great Britain’s Women once again showed their collective strength and determination as they were victorious against Spain to secure seventh spot at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Co-captain Amy Conroy was the game’s top-scorer with 22 points during a superb team performance as ParalympicsGB ended their Tokyo 2020 campaign with a 62:43 win.
The Women’s team have shown incredible resilience and fight throughout the past 18 months in challenging circumstances, and, again on Thursday, the team played with enormous pride and quality to bounce back from Tuesday’s quarter-final heartbreak.
GB were determined to leave Tokyo on a high and this was clear from the onset. Laurie Williams scored within the opening 25 seconds as ParalympicsGB made a fast start to the match, racing into a 10:4 lead halfway through the first quarter.
Six points from Amy Conroy and four from Williams helped GB establish their early lead as GB played with fluidity in offence and high-energy pressing in defence. Their work rate and persistence was rewarded, not only with a 14-point lead at the end of the opening quarter, but, ultimately the win, with GB forcing Spain into nine turnovers in the opening quarter and 25 during the match.
Conroy ending the first quarter with eight points and Williams six with Joy Haizelden, Helen Freeman and Robyn Love all scoring points in an opening quarter that saw GB score 22 points against Spain’s eight.
Co-captain Maddie Thompson extended GB’s lead to 16 points at the start of the second quarter, but, Spain battled back to within seven points of ParalympicsGB’s total with just over two minutes left in the half.
A strong end to the quarter saw Williams, Conroy and Charlotte Moore all add to GB’s tally as ParalympicsGB held a 12-point lead at half-time, 21:33.
The difference was back to eight with two minutes gone in the third quarter, but two more points for Conroy from outside the paint started a spell that saw GB score 18 points in the final eight minutes of the quarter, limiting Spain to just two.
The dominant third quarter helped ParalympicsGB build a 24-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes. A lead that grew to 26 thanks to points from Moore and Lucy Robinson early in the final quarter.
Love and Thompson both added to their points totals in the final quarter as GB defended well to make sure there was no way back for Spain. When the buzzer sounded, it secured a fantastic 62:43 win for ParalympicsGB after a brilliant team performance.
