Turkey Don't Skip A Beat, Flatten Italy

Yasemin Dalgalar and Turkey assured their spot, and that of Spain, in the quarter-finals following their win on Thursday

By Paul Nilsen

Turning Point: Turkey blunted the Italians completely during the third quarter. Their opponents' offence was turned off like a tap. Italy could only muster two points in the entire period.

Stats Don't Lie: Despite having an off-night inside the key and not being able to get out and score fast-break points, Turkey made four of their first five triple-attempts and finished by shooting 42%. They also did a good job in controlling the boards 40-29 in their favour.

Game Heroes: It was another powerhouse team performance by Turkey and their depth was in evidence this time as Yasemin Dalgalar stepped off the bench to score 10 points in 11 minutes from four-of-five floor shooting. Forward pair Tugce Canitez and Bahar Caglar did the hard work on the glass, pulling down a combined 18 rebounds.

Turkey booked their quarter-final spot at EuroBasket Women 2013 as they cranked up their defence and shot the lights out from downtown to breeze past Italy 66-46.

The win not only confirms their spot in the quarter-finals, but also that of Spain who thumped the Slovak Republic 80-44 earlier in the night.

Not missing a beat since they were stationed in Vannes, Ceyhun Yildizoglu and his team continue to look like a dominant defensive unit which will take some breaking down.

Despite the final winning margin, Italy had done a good job hanging with Turkey during an entertaining first half, but imploded after the break.

They had managed to hang onto the shirt-tails of Turkey despite an early bombardment from three-point range, with Kathrin Ress dropping a triple of her own for the Italians to make it a one-shot game at 32-29.

But, already trailing 34-29 coming back from the locker rooms, the wheels come off for Italy - much to the frustration of team leader Giorgia Sottana.

"There is not a lot to say after the third quarter we played," bemoaned the point-guard.

"You really can't expect to win when you score just two points in a quarter against a super team like Turkey."

Certainly once Yasemin Dalgalar struck a three-point shot from the corner for Turkey to make it 51-31 as the shot-clock ticked down, the game was truly up for the Italians.

Both teams now turn their attention to Saturday, when Italy must bounce back against Slovak Republic and Turkey will focus on matching-up with a buoyant Sweden.

Quotes Italy vs. Turkey

Italy Player Giorgia Sottana:
"There are not many things to say, when you score only two points in the third quarter you cannot expect to win a game against a great team as Turkey, a big team. We had our shots, we missed them and we were down by 20 points. I just want to congratulate Turkey."

Turkey Player Quanitra Hollingsworth:
"My team came out very well, we knew it was a battle, we played very well on defence and that was the key to get the victory."

Italy Head Coach Roberto Ricchini:
"The game was absolutely different in the first half and in the second. We didn't play the second, we dissapeared, and there's not much to say. Obviously we are going to analyse this match, trying to know why we had such a negative quarter. The match on Saturday [against Slovakia] will be very important, probably the most important up to this moment and we have to recover our confidence."

Turkey Head Coach Ceyhun Yildizoglu:
"We were very concentrated and were successful on offence and defence. My players got this advantage against a very organised tam. Congratulations to Italy and also my players for the great effort. In the next game we have to show our experience, we are a physical team as Sweden. I think it is going to be a great game."