Great Britain’s women recovered from a slow start to beat Poland 77-49 in their EuroBasket qualifier in Istanbul.

The result means GB are likely to finish second in their three-team group, but would probably still need to beat group leaders Belarus to qualify.

The game was moved to Istanbul in response to coronavirus restrictions.

GB had won convincingly in Poland exactly a year ago, but with three starters missing from the line-up that had played in the Olympic qualifiers in Belgrade in February, they found it difficult to find a rhythm early in the game.

Simpson, missing in Belgrade in February, returned to again prove the on-court leader, taking on the responsibility of running the offense and scoring most of her points in the first half.

Although they struggled to generate good scoring chances early on, GB’s strong defence ensured Poland had their own scoring problems.

GB found their range in the second quarter. Handy hit three threes and Simpson, top scorer in the reverse fixture a year ago, added another in a 17-3 run and GB were suddenly leading by 10 points.

Simpson pushed the tempo for GB at the start of the second half and Temi Fagbenle and Cheridene Green combined for a burst of points as GB began to take a stranglehold on the game. The pair finished with eight and 10 points respectively.

Twelve points up at the start of the final quarter, GB slammed the door by holding Poland scoreless for six and a half minutes midway through the quarter to record an easy second victory in the group.

“Going into the game today, the first goal was to win, and the second was to win by as many as we can, knowing that points might add up in the end,” Handy told BBC Sport. “We knew it was going to be tough but I think we did well under the circumstances.”