Most of the games in this round were played on Saturday. Samsun did not take it easy on hapless Bornova at all, playing Shay Murphy, Avery Warley-Talbert, and Tan White heavy minutes as they beat Sam Lubcke and the hosts 145-69. Aerial Powers led Fenerbahce again, this time past Kamile Nacickaite and Adana. Galatasaray debuted a new player, but it was a debut for the hosts that stole the show as Brittney Sykes got some help from Jasmine Thomas to lead Orman to the 95-85 win. Claudia Pop had a good game for Istanbul University, but Cukurova used a balanced effort to win 85-66. Chelsea Gray’s great game for Botas was not enough as Shavonte Zellous and Besiktas won 68-66. On Sunday, the tie at the top of the standings finally started to unravel as Courtney Vandersloot fired Yakin Dogu University past Barbara Turner and Hatay 96-78. There was extra basketball to end the week as Mersin finally overcame Marianna Tolo and Abdullah Gul University 74-68 in overtime. With the halfway point of the regular season reached, the top eight teams will also participate in this year’s cup competition.
January 6, 2018
Bornova vs. Samsun 69-145 BOR Lubcke 20/15r Molnar 13 Ozcan 12/9r/8a SAM Murphy 50/8r Warley-Talbert 30/15r White 25/7r/13a/7s Putnina 9/7r
Adana Aski vs. Fenerbahce 64-77 (scorers only) ADA Nacickaite 20 Ivegin 12 Snow 8 Vynuchalova 0 FEN Powers 26 Bilgic 16 Senyurek 12 Vaughn 5 Canitez 1 Dabovic 0
Orman vs. Galatasaray 95-85 (partial information only) ORM Sykes 34/14r/7a Thomas 30/7r/6a Onar 15 GAL Quigley 18 Alben 17 Davis 15 Dubljevic 13 Petronyte 12
Istanbul Universitesi vs. Cukurova 66-85 IST Pop 20/7r Mohammed 12/11r Guner 10 CUK Talay 19 Larkins 17/15r DeShields 14/8r/6a Iagupova 13 Atas 11
Besiktas vs. Botas 68-66 BES Zellous 21/7r Wheeler 17/8a Uzun 12 Mosby 5/6r Ozelci 0 BOT Gray 28/8r/8a Newlin 10/8r Eldebrink 10 Stokes 6/11r
January 7, 2018
Yakin Dogu Universitesi vs. Hatay 96-78 YDU Vandersloot 23/11a McBride 14 Koksal 14 Caglar 12 Cakir 11/6a Gruda 10/9r Lavender 6/10r Hollingsworth 0 HAT Turner 27 Ben Abdelkader 18 Paris 10/13r Mitchell 10 Tanacan 0
Mersin vs. Abdullah Gul Universitesi 74-68(OT) MER Cado 17/8r Hartley 14 Colakoglu 11 Thomas 10/12r Yalcin 10 Gajic 7/10r AGU Tolo 20/12r Miljkovic 18/6r Marginean 8/8r Page 5
Standings:
- Yakin Dogu Universitesi 12-1
- Fenerbahce 12-1
- Hatay 11-2
- Botas 8-5
- Cukurova 7-6
- Besiktas 7-6
- Mersin 7-6
- Abdullah Gul Universitesi 7-6
- Samsun 6-7
- Galatasaray 6-7
- Orman 5-8
- Adana Aski 2-11
- Istanbul Universitesi 1-12
- Bornova 0-13