Turkey prevail over Puerto Rica 65-53: 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament for Women
On Monday night, in a Group A fixture of the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament for Women, host Turkey put up a clinical performance to score a 65-53 win over Puerto Rica.
The Turkish women were led by their centre Kuanitra Hollingsworth. The 6ft 5 in player shared a team high 13 points with Tugba Palazoglu, and also grabbed 9 rebounds. She was 4 of 5 from the two point range and also went 5 of 6
from the foul line.
Bahar Caglar was the third leading scorer for the Turks with 11 points, 8 rebounds and a team high 4 assists.
The hosts were 20 of 54 from the floor, including a 5-of-19 effort from the three point range. They also made 20 of their 25 free throw attempts.
The South Americans were led by their shooting guard, Jazmine Sepulveda, who erupted with a game high 20 points on an 8 of 15 shooting from the floor which included their long range strikes. She also grabbed 6 rebounds while Carla
Cortijo ended the game with 15 points on a 7 of 20 shooting.
The main problem for the Puerto Ricans was that except these two players, no one else managed more than 5 points. The hosts also out-rebounded the Puerto Ricans 39-27 and also dished out 10 more assists at 17.
Puerto Rica started the game with a three pointer and were leading by 9-8 with 6:29 minutes remaining in the first quarter, but the Turks blew them away with a 16-3 run in the remaining period to take a firm grip of the game.
A 9-1 spurt to start the period then increased the Turkish advantage to 33-13, giving the hosts a 20 point lead, their largest of the night.
At that time, it seemed that the Turkish women will cruise to a win, but the Americans had some fight left in them. They closed the first half on a 9-2 burst to make it 22-35.
Their hopes of a comeback were however dampened by a 9-4 Turkish start to the second half, taking the lead to 44-26. The Puerto Rican answered back with an 11-2 push to make it a 9 point game at 37-46.
The Turks ended the third quarter with an 11 point lead though and were leading by 15 inside the first two minutes of the fourth. The Puerto Ricans scored seven unanswered points in the ensuing passage to bring the deficit to 8,
at 48-56, but the hosts held their nerves and outscored the South Americans 9-5 rest of the way to seal the win.
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