TBBL 12/2009 - Mersin 78, Kocaeli 54

Mersin had two advantages going into the game against Kocaeli. The first was that Mersin was playing at home. The second was that Kocaeli had not won a TBBL game this year. It was enough for Mersin, who advanced to 11-1 in the Turkish league with a 78-54 win over 0-12 Mersin.

The box score is here.

Most of the really good teams in Turkish ball have a lot of WNBA players. Kocaeli had no WNBA players, and Turkish basketball hasn't quite caught up with the United States. Kocaeli barely led 15-14 after the first quarter, but Mersin won the following three quarters.

Ceyda Kozuka led Kocaeli with 16 points and 3 rebounds. Asli Sevinc scored eight points and 14 rebounds for the visitors.

And who was the best player for Mersin? Erlana Larkins had nine points and 12 rebounds, and Korel Engin had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Mersin had some great shooting for this game. Ivory Latta, however, was Mersin's leading scorer:

16 points
3 rebounds
4 assists
3-for-6 from 2-point range
3-for-6 from 3-point range
23 minutes of play

Hopefully, the TBBL will put up some pics of this game.