With both sides trading blows in a back-and-forth game, there was very little to separate both sides at the break, with Israel edging it 39-36. The second-half followed a similar pattern with both sides going blow for blow in an enthralling battle. Newly capped Karlie Samuelson hit a huge triple late in the 3rd, but Israel rallied back to take a 59-56 lead into the final quarter.
The 4th period saw Samuelson continue her impressive form from beyond the arc as she connected from deep to tie the game at 59 a-piece. Samuelson's triple sparked an 11-0 scoring run for GB.
It is a dream @EuroBasketWomen window for @gbbasketball - helped by @ksam44 who did not score on debut v POR but pulled some serious moves in tonight's win v ISR Showed her #wnba @LA_Sparks quality! #EuroBasketWomen #BritishBasketball pic.twitter.com/cIPGR5Yx0u
- Paul Nilsen (@basketmedia365) February 14, 2018
In need of a response, Israel were quick to call time-out with just under 5 minutes left in the quarter. A response is exactly what they got with back-to-back scores forcing a GB time-out with the game evenly poised once more. GB's veteran duo of Temi Fegbenle and Stef Collins showed their class down the stretch, hitting some important shots for the visitors who showed great maturity to pick up their 3rd win in Group H.
The victory was celebrated by the recently arrived Karlie Samuelson, with the player having only debuted last weekend.
She enthused: "That was crazy. It was an awesome game to be a part of. I think the key to the game was just playing together as a team. You know, a lot of people scored and we played together on defence getting stops.
"My team mates did a great job of driving and kicking the ball. We have great leadership from Stef and Azania and everybody - we moved the ball and it was really good
"I was a little nervous about coming in to camp, just because everyone knows each other and they played together in November. But, these girls are amazing and as I have told them before. I am really pleased to be here. I am leaving camp with a good group of friends now, so it's even more awesome."
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