"Romania started well, they shot very well in the first quarter which meant that we were always chasing them,"€ said head coach Mark Clark.
"Once again we showed tremendous heart to get ourselves back into the game on a number of occasions and were in with a chance of winning right down until the last two plays of the game. But the damage was down in the home game against Finland.
"We"ve beaten established teams in the A Division, like Germany, as well as in preparation games, like Croatia. I would argue that if were a country who had a basketball programme like this for more than the last three years alone and I have no doubt we would be at the level we need to be to play at the 2012 Olympics.
"The bottom line is that we need to prove ourselves again. It"s a testament to the players who have committed themselves this January that we came this close. Those people did whatever they could to try and keep our status and I"m proud of the time and effort all 14 girls have given to this programme and to this team.
"Understandably it"s a very emotional time but I know we will eventually look back and take the positives from this campaign but of course we are all bitterly disappointed to lose our status."€Â
As with their game in Bosnia Sarah McKay grabbed Britain"s first basket with a jump shot, assisted by Butler. Lisa Hutchinson then missed two jumpers in a row, with Mason taking the offensive rebound, while Paula Ciocan added to Simina Mandache"s previous basket.
Collins may have picked up an early foul but she was also on target from the free throw line with a pair inside the first three minutes. Kristy Lavin then came on for McKay, as GB"s leading scorer from their previous two games notched up a second foul.
Romania capitalised with a 7-0 run to lead 11-4 before Clark called timeout. When they returned to court the home side grabbed another basket before Mason interrupted their flow with a jumper, but Romania pulled away to a 19-6 lead. It was Mason who yet again ended their run with two free throws before she set up Butler.
Lavin found the target from the three point line but Svetlana Dragusin responded immediately to keep a double-point cushion. Undeterred Lavin took another basket and then both Butler and Mason made one-from-two from the charity strip to go 23-17 but Ciocan sank a three-pointer at the end of the quarter.
Romania were equally deadly from the three point line at the start of the second when both Mandache and Monika Isabela Boriga were in range. Eventually Mason sunk her shot and when McKay returned to the floor for Butler her impact was felt immediately as GB pulled it back to an 11-point gap.
When Collins shot from downtown she made is 33-24 but each time the Brits looked to close the gap the Romanians responded, this time with yet another three. Butler missed her jump shot and while McKay picked up the rebound Lavin"s foul saw Pascalau start a 6-0 run.
The visitors continued to battle and were duly rewarded with a Lavin three, Butler jumper and Mason pair from the charity strip which reduced the deficit to nine points (42-33), which was exactly the same margin that separated the two sides in Nottingham at half time.
Mason, who was subbed in for Sally Kaznica at the start of the third, was the first Brit into double figures from the top of the key and she would have extended her personal score had she made a pair of free throws.
Butler however was on target from the charity strip, and in similar vein to the last meeting between these two sides it was the Brits who returned to court with more authority yet they were unable to take turn possession into points as McKay missed a pair of jump shots and they were then turned over three times in thirty seconds.
Dragusin and Ciocan hit double figures for Romania as both made one-from-two at the free throw line before Collins set Butler up to make it 47-39. Butler then returned to court from a Romanian timeout to sink a pair from the charity strip and make it a six-point game.
Mason reduced the gap even further when she made 13 personal with a jump shot but Pascalau replied for Romania. Kaznica went for the three yet saw it rejected while Lavin was unable to turn in the rebound.
Shooting 50% from the free throw line Mason made it one-from-two yet again and Britain trailed 49-44 but Dragusin"s free throw, Mandache"s three and Boriga"s basket undid GB"s hard work in a matter of moments and it went on to give GB the hard task of making up a 10-point gap at the start of the final period.
Sarah Naylor saw her first action in the fourth quarter and like in Bosnia she proved deadly from the three point line as she sunk her first effort of the game. Kaznica made way for GB captain Hutchinson, who was precariously placed on four fouls, and Butler sunk her shot but as before Romania responded immediately to maintain a seven-point lead. But Butler made it 20 personal and more to the point 64-61 with her jumper. Mandache sunk a three but so did Collins to make it a three point game and less than a minute remaining.
Despite having victory in their sights GB went on to lose 71-66, with both Hutchinson and Collins fouled out.
