Host Turkey Takes On Serbia As Basketball Worlds Quarters Kick Off

The quarterfinals of the 2014 Women's World Basketball kick off in İstanbul on Friday with host Turkey taking on powerhouse Serbia.

The Serbians earned the final spot in the quarterfinals by beating Cuba 86-79 in a back-and-forth game. Cuba led by seven after the first period before Serbia rallied for a 42-39 halftime lead. Cuba then led by two going into the final period.

Canada advanced to the quarterfinals of the women's world championship for the first time in 20 years after knocking off the Czech Republic 91-71 on Wednesday. Kim Gaucher scored 17 points to lead Canada, which plays Australia on Friday.

In other quarterfinals qualifying games on Wednesday, China topped Belarus 72-67, Serbia edged Cuba 86-79 and France beat Brazil 61-48.

France's win set up a rematch against the US on Friday. The French team handed the Americans a rare loss on Sept. 21 when the teams played an exhibition game in Paris. It was the first loss by the US in an international game since falling to a team from the Czech Republic in 2011 when the US was on a European tour. The US beat France by 36 points in the gold medal game of the 2012 London Olympics.

China rallied from a 13-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to beat Belarus and advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. The Chinese will face Spain on Friday.

Today's quarters fixtures at a glance

14:00 Australia vs. Canada
16:15 Spain vs. China
19:00 Turkey vs. Serbia
21:15 US vs. France

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)