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Great Britain's women shocked World University Games hosts Serbia by beating them 76-67 in the opening group game.

Britain's charge was led by Jo Leedham (pictured), who took 27 points, while captain Chantelle Handy added 12 and Georgia Jones 10. All three play college basketball in the US.

The victory was also a boost for new senior women's head coach Tom Maher, granting him a win in his first competitive match in charge.

"We were down by 12 points at half time but when we returned to court we just started chipping away and put a few points on the board," said Leedham.

"We were down in rebounds and on boards, so we knew we had to up our possession game and communication, especially on defense. It was a great team effort.

"The opening ceremony is tonight but I'm not sure we can go as we have an early game tomorrow. It's been cool so far here; it's like a mini Olympics. It's clearly a great opportunity for us to get good experience of these sorts of events ahead of the Olympics."

Leedham has been joined by her older sister Jennifer for the first time in a GB jersey. Both sisters were key members for Franklin Pierce University who this year finished runners-up in the NCAA Division II finals and tomorrow Britain take on favourites USA, in their second group game.

"The result is definitely a confidence boost ahead of tomorrow's game but the US are honestly in a different league to everyone else here.

"We are still going to go out and think that we can do well but this is about improving and knowing that they're the level we want to be at in three or four years time. We will play with heart, so we will see."

Eurosport