TBBL 20/2009 - Galatasaray 65, Mersin 61

The Turkish women's league is about four games away from wrapping up its regular season. With Mersin having the secnod best record in the league, third-place Galatasaray needed a win to strengthen its position and it got the win on its home court, 65-61.

Galatasaray moves to 16-4 on the year, and Mersin falls to 17-3. The final boxscore is here.

The first quarter battle was between Barbara Turner and the team of Yelena Leuchanka and Tamika Catchings. Ahead 15-11 with slightly less than three minutes to go in the first quarter, Galatasaray boosted their lead to 15-12. Ivory Latta came on strong to start the second quarter but Galatasaray recovered and extended their lead to 37-27 at halftime.

Galatasaray extended their lead slightly to 50-39 after the third quarter, but Erlana Larkins and Barbara Turner took off for Mersin, lowering the gap to six points with slightly over six minutes to go in the game. However, Galatasaray was able to keep control of the game and seal the victory.

Barbara Turner led Mersin with 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Erlana Larkins scored 11 points and 13 rebounds, the only double-double for Mersin. Former Atlanta Dream player Ivory Latta added 12 points in the loss.

For Galatasaray, Katie Douglas scored 13 points and four rebounds, and Tamika Catchings scored 12 points and 10 rebounds. Yelena Leuchanka played 21 minutes but didn't have a good shooting game:

4 points
1-for-6 shooting
3 rebounds
21 minutes played

Galatasaray Wins Turkish Cup With Help of Leuchanka

Yelena Leuchanka and Sophia Young celebrate.

I knew that the Turkish teams weren't playing in the regular season this week, but I didn't know why. Of course, in order to find out why you had to be able to do the kind of navigation of international basketball that P. D. Swanson does over at Rebkell. Apparently, there was a Turkish Cup in the women's league over the weekend, which resulted in the regular season taking a week off.

The 18th Women's Cup involved eight teams: Besitkas, Ceyhan, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Istanbul University, Kayseri, Mersin, and Samsun. Play started on Friday with a single-elimination quarterfinals, the semifinals took place on Saturday and the final match took place today.

Galtasaray - Yelena Leuchanka's team - got off to a good start with a 84-59 whalloping of Ceyhan. No stats from that game, other than those Swanny was able to provide: Leuchanka only scored two points in a game marked by Tamika Catchings scoring 16 and Sophia Young scoring 15 in the victory.

The next day - Saturday - Galatasaray faced Mersin in the semifinals. You might remember Mersin as the home of ex-Dream player Ivory Latta. Galatasaray won the game 74-64 despite Latta pouring in 21 points for Mersin. Katie Douglas scored 19 points and six rebounds for Galatasaray, and Catchings and Young each scored 13.

Leuchanka woke up for this game. She scored nine points and 10 rebounds in just 17 minutes. Galatasaray moved on to face Turkish women's basketball power Fenerbahce in the Turkish Cup final.

In the finals, Galatasaray got a close win against Fenerbahce, 57-55 to win the Turkish Cup. The game started out very close, with Fenerbahce edging out to a 20-17 lead after the first ten minutes. The second quarter was a real slog, with Fenerbahce scoring only seven points...and Galatasaray only scoring six. Fenerbahce took a 27-23 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, Galatasaray began their comeback. It took all of the third quarter for Galatasaray to overcome the deficit, scoring the final points of the quarter to lead 45-43 at the end of the thirty minutes and insuring a fourth-quarter battle.

Galatasaray took a 53-48 point lead at one point in the final quarter but a Penny Taylor 3-pointer scored the score to 53-51. Leuchanka would be the next scorer for Galatasaray, and Galatasaray's defense would hold as they got the surprising cup victory.

Yelena Leuchanka was named the Most Valuable Player of the cup - once Leuchanka got warmed up, she was hard to stop. She scored 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting and picked up four rebounds in just 20 minutes of play. Her 14 points led all players in the final match.

TBBL 19/2009 - Galatasaray 77, Kayseri 69

In Turkey, Galatasaray continues to firm up its position in the Turkish league. With three more games left in the regular season, Galatasaray moves to 15-4 and in third place with a 77-69 win over visiting Kayseri. Galatasaray has already secured third place; the hope is to eclipse Mersin (home of Ivory Latta) for second.

The box score is here.

The score of this game remained tight during the first, but Galatasaray became more confident in the second, holding Kayseri to 15 points and leading 43-35 at halftime. LaToya Pringle helped Kayseri get off to a better start in the third, and Kayseri fought its way to a 46-46 tie. However, despite the work of Pringle - and Julie McBride in the fourth quarter - Galatasaray regained its lead and kept it.

Latoya Pringle led Kayseri with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Vicki Johnson scored 16 points for Kayseri, and Julie McBride scored five points in limited minutes. McBride graduated from Syracuse in 2004.

For Galatasaray, Sophia Young led with 21 points and 12 minutes. Emine Palazoglu scored 14 points and Katie Douglas scored 12.

Yelena Leuchanka didn't score many points - she had a horrible shooting game - but she got a lot of rebounds.

4 points
1-for-9 shooting
9 rebounds
3 assists
29 minutes

TBBL: 18/2009 - Galatasaray 82, Çankaya University 63

Galatasara is standing in second place in the Turkish league. I don't know why, since 15-1 has more wins and fewer losses. (Every country has their own system.) Galatasaray should not be in any danger of falling out of second with their 82-63 win over visiting team Çankaya University.

The box score is here.

Galatasaray took a 10-7 lead after five minutes and expanded the lead to ten points, 25-15 after the end of ten minutes. In the second quarter, Galatasaray took a 9-0 run at the beginning to extend their lead to 34-15. By halftime, Galatasaray led 41-29.

There would be no threat from Çankaya University. In the third period, Galatasary extended their lead to 66-46 and held Çankaya University off for the rest of the game. The headline? "Galatasaray won without difficulty".

Megan Frazee led Çankaya University with 16 points and seven rebounds. Lyndra Weaver, the former Lyndra Littles, scored eighth points and nine rebounds for the visitors.

Sophia Young was Galatasaray's leading scorer with 17 points. Tamika Catchings added 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Yelena Leuchanka would only play 18 minutes but she would also break double digits in scoring:

10 points
3-for-6 shooting
4-for-4 free throw shooting
3 rebounds

TBBL 17/2009 - Fenerbahce 76, Galatasaray 62

Galatasaray is definitely a good team - the problem is that Fenerbahce is a better one, the best team in Turkey. However, I don't think anyone expected the worst quarter that I've ever written about in international basketball - even at the mid-major level - would help Fenerbahce along to its inevitable 76-62 win.

The box score is here.

It was Galatasaray that got off to the great start, starting off 15-4 and coasting to a 23-15 lead over undefeated Fenerbahce. However, Galatasaray scored only two points in the second quarter. The translation of the game report doesn't say why Galatasaray was held just two second quarter points. (I'd love to read a play-by-play.) By the end of the first half, Fenerbahce led 31-25.

The second half wasn't better. In the third quarter, Fenerbahce extended the lead, advancing to a 20-point lead at the end of the quarter, 55-35. Over the middle two quarters, Fenerbahce scored 12 total points. Fenerbahce led by 22 at one point in the fourth quarter, and the game was over.

Penny Taylor scored 17 points, six points and three assists for Fenerbahce. Ebony Hoffman added 14 points and six rebounds, and Birsel Vardali also scored 14 points. Fenerbahce shot 62 percent over the team.

For Galatasaray, Sophia Young scored 22 points and five rebounds. Tamika Catchings was the only other Galatasaray player to break double digits with 13 points.

Yelena Leuchanka had an poor shooting game, particularly at the free throw line:

7 points
2-for-4 shooting
3-for-6 from the free throw line
6 rebounds

TBBL 16/2009 - Galatasaray 85, Besitkas 61

Fenerbahce is at the top of the Turkish League - they were just eliminated by Spartak Moscow in Euroleague. Following Fenerbahce is Mersin (Ivory Latta's team), and after that comes Galatasaray. Galatasaray is comfortably in third place, and will remain there after an 85-61 home win against Besitkas.

Galatsaray advances to 13-3. Besitkas falls to 7-9. The box score is here.

Galatasaray galloped off to a 10-3 lead and led 25-12 after ten minutes. They'd win the second quarter, the third quarter, and the fourth quarter. Leading 51-34 at halftime, Galatasaray faced little trouble. Galatasaray shot 10-for-20 from 3-point range.

Shavonte' Zellous led Besitkas with 18 points and six rebounds, most of her points coming from 10-for-11 shooting from the free throw line. (I still remember that game in Atlanta....) Nykesha Sales and Kelly Santos each scored 15 points for Besitkas.

Tamika Catchings had two 3-pointers on the way to a 14 point, four rebound game for Galatasaray. Yasemin Horasan had 12 points, five rebounds and six assists.

Yelena Leuchanka had 13 points and a good game.

13 points
5-for-7 shooting
6 rebounds
21 minutes of play