GB women bounce back with basketball win

Great Britain's women's wheelchair basketball team got their Paralympic campaign on track with their first win as they edged out Brazil 42-37 in a tough battle.

Garry Peel 's side had lost their opening two games - their latest was 51-24 loss to Australia on Friday - but they bounced back and put in a strong performance against Brazil.

The teams traded the lead nine times and neither led by more than six, but Britain took control with an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter that turned a 35-31 deficit into a 39-35 lead.

Amy Conroy scored 18 points and Helen Freeman added nine while dishing out 11 assists and grabbing eight rebounds.

The lead switched hands several times, with Debora Cristina Guimarares da Costa a constant menace for Brazil and both Lia Maria Soares Martins and Vileide Brito de Almeida coming up with big baskets to hurt Britain, the trio scoring 16, nine, and eight respectively.

Brazil reeled off eight straight points of their own to go 33-27 up on a shot from Soares Martins early in the fourth quarter, and it was Soares Martins again to make it 35-31.

But Conroy and Freeman brought Britain level and further shots from Caroline Maclean and Laurie Williams put them 39-35 up, with Brazil unable to find another response as a crowd listed at 7,979 went wild inside the Basketball Arena.

With Britain making only 19 of 54 of their shots from the floor, Peel is confident there is still more to come from his team, and he is hopeful this first win can help unlock it.

"We're still not in fifth gear yet, there's more to come and I'm looking forward to that because we can play good basketball," he said. "We're still nervous, still tense, but once we can release everybody it will come naturally. I think this win can do that, and now we've got a day off tomorrow so we can relax the girls and prepare for Canada.

"Then let's hope we can get in that quarter-final and see what happens."