In the first half the British players, which will compete along with their male counterparts in London 2012 after being granted host nation status, led by as many as 15 points and they were 10 points ahead with five minutes remaining, only for the side which has reached the last five EuroBasket finals to demonstrate why.

The Russians won 62-59, inflicting the second close defeat on Britain, who had lost by a single point to another dominant European power, Lithuania, earlier in the event.

British player Kim Butler led the way against Russia with 15 points and six rebounds, dominating the game in the first period, while Natalie Stafford was perfect in her ten trips to the free-throw line to finish with 14 points and three steals.

Jo Leedham finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Julie Page also had eight rebounds to go with her seven points.

Azania Stewart admitted that it was frustrating to lose another close game, but also looked on the positive side: "I guess it's a learning curve - but we all made crucial mistakes.

"It would have been nice to end the tournament with a win.

"We needed to keep making plays in the fourth period, and we couldn't quite get it down at the crucial time.

"But, we've proved that we don't give up.

"We frustrated them and we didn't go down without a fight."

Britain's coach Tom Maher was understandably frustrated with the loss: "It was disappointing, but it was what it was, we didn't do enough to win.

"We don't have the experience and the poise to win games like this down the stretch, but we'll only get that by playing in these types of games.

"When you're totally outmatched in the paint, but are eight up with four to play, that has to be a positive.

"But from there on, we couldn't get a decent shot up.

"I'm proud of the team, and we'd have taken this coming into the Championships.

"But we coughed up two games we should have won, against Lithuania and Russia, and we need to learn from that before the Olympics next year."

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