After a tough start to the championship through the loss to Germany, a must-win match against Great Britain awaited in the second group stage match.
Sweden started the match against Germany weakly and so was also the case against Great Britain, which clearly started best and led 12–5 after five minutes of play. Sweden then played themselves up and could go to the break with a tied result, 31–31.
"Hanging in better"
Sweden's Nathalie Fontaine was relatively pleased with the game picture at the break.
I think we're hanging in better than yesterday (against Germany). But there are still some things we need to fix. But I think we are much more physical today, said Fontaine to SVT during the break and continued:
Everything is mental. Both teams are tired. We had matches yesterday. The one who is mentally strongest will take this home. Forget about if you're in pain or are tired, just keep going.
Came out strong
In the second half, Sweden came out strong and delivered their best basketball so far during the European Championship. A strong defensive game laid the foundation for a stable win with 75–66.
Our defense decides today. We come out a bit so-so in the beginning but we set the tone then and play incredibly good defense, said Ellen Nyström to SVT after the match.
Sweden's group in the European Championship has been described as the "group of death". In the final group stage match, they will face one of the big favorites for the entire championship, world number five Spain. An exciting challenge.
We'll see how much we can retain from this match. It's going to be really fun, says Nyström.
The win was deserved, according to SVT's expert.
Sweden was the better team and won fairly. Now they have the chance to advance to the next round with a win against Spain, says expert Nick Rajacic.
