July 21, 2010
KAVADARCI, Macedonia - Junior center Mairi Buchan (Stirlingshire, Scotland) and redshirt freshman guard Becca Allison (Edinburgh, Scotland) are both performing extremely well for the Great Britain National Team at the U20 European Championships in Kavadarci, Macedonia.
The Great Britain National Team is off to a 3-1 start in large part to Buchan's team-high 10.5 points per game and Allison's team-best 2.5 steals per game.
Great Britain has already picked up pool wins over Belgium (61-42), Hungary (54-50) and Macedonia (70-69) with the squads lone loss coming to the Czech Republic.
"So far it has been a great experience as our team works so hard for each other and we have bonded from the very start," said Buchan. "I've learned a lot from a great coaching staff here and I'm excited to continue working on my game and bring it back to ODU!"
Buchan currently ranks 10th in the tournament with 42 points and has pulled down a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game, which is fourth best amongst all tournament players.
Allison has really started to come on in the last two games, scoring eight points against Macedonia and nine against the Czech Republic. In her last two games she has shot 6-of-10 from the field and swiped eight steals. Her six steals against the Czech Republic is the most for any player in any tournament game thus far.
Great Britain secured its place in the quarterfinals of the European Championship Division B with a narrow 70-69 win over tournament host Macedonia in the third pool play game on Sunday. Buchan led the way for Great Britain with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Buchan poured in 12 points against the Czech Republic in the final pool game Tuesday, but Great Britain suffered its first loss and now will await the conclusion of pool play to find out its quarterfinal opponent. The quarterfinals get underway on Friday.
"I've really enjoyed my experience thus far and am looking forward to the next games as we have the chance to gain promotion to Division A," said Allison. "I'm excited to bring back what I've learned as I get ready for my first season of play at ODU."
-ODU-