'Fairies Of Hoops' Bid Adieu To Ankara With Rout Of Mozambique

“The Fairies of the Hoops,” as the Turkish women's basketball team is called, lived up to all expectations by crushing hapless Mozambique 64-54 in the final game in Group B of the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women at Ankara Arena on Tuesday night.

France pipped Canada 63-59 in the other Group B game as the quarterfinals, which start on Friday, now move to İstanbul.

The Fairies, the undefeated and undisputed group leaders, had already qualified for the quarterfinals going into the game against the hapless Mozambicans. With the quarters berth already guaranteed, the Turkish women, therefore, were only playing for pride and prestige -- and they put in a virtuoso performance Mozambique just could not cope with.

The Fairies, backed by a thunderous home crowd in the cold capital, started offensively with Nürnberg power forward Lara Sanders, power forward Bahar Çağlar and point guard Işıl Alben firing from all cylinders.

Little wonder the Turks were 7-3 up after just three minutes. Veteran shooting guard Emine Tuğba Palazoğlu hit three pointers, and Dutch-born veteran shooting guard Esmeral Özçelik Tunçluer scored at the buzzer to give the Fairies an 18-12 lead in the first quarter.

Turkey was even more dominant in the first quarter, with small forwards Cansu Köksal and Tuğçe Canıtez combining perfectly to increase the score. And with veteran power forward and center Nevriye Yılmaz entering the scoring bandwagon, the Fairies led 36-23 at the end of this quarter.

The Turks left nothing to chance in the third quarter, upping the tempo to lead 55-38 and wrapping up the game 64-54 in the fourth and final quarter. The Fairies, who had beaten France and Canada in the first two, finished the group with a perfect record. The Mozambicans finished last.

Elsewhere, the US routed Angola 119-44. And after winning the most lopsided game in US women's basketball history at the world championship, the players posed for photo after photo with the Angola players. The players from the African nation did not care that they had just lost by 75 points to the Americans, as they just wanted a chance to take pictures with their basketball idols.

“It was definitely something I've never experienced before,” said Brittney Griner, who had 15 points for the US in a record rout on Tuesday night.

The victory was the biggest for the Americans in the worlds, surpassing their 70-point rout of Senegal in 1990. The 119 points also tied the most ever for the US, matching the total the team had against China in 2006. Still, the points and the final margin never mattered to coach Geno Auriemma or his players.

In other action on Tuesday in Group D, Serbia edged China 65-63, and Australia routed Belarus 87-45 to win Group C, while Cuba beat Korea 73-57 to advance to the qualifying round. Spain won Group A, topping the Czech Republic 67-43, and Brazil advanced to the next round by beating Japan 79-56.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)