Women Basketball: Australia Outplays Turkey, Bags Bronze

Australia outplayed Turkey 74-44 to claim the bronze medal in the Federation Internationale de Basketball World Championship for Women in Istanbul on Sunday.



The Aussie team, known as the "Opals", soared high right from the start of the game and sped ahead, 17-0, with three minutes to spare in the first quarter.



Turkey, nicknamed the "Fairies of Basket," ended their nightmare by scoring four points, but trailed far behind, 17-4, after the first period.



Getting their shots to fall in the second period as well, Australia increased the irrevocable gap to 19 points by the half, leading 38-19.



The nightmare continued for the "fairies" in the third quarter, when they could only score six points and gave away 16 more points to their opponent.



The deciding quarter caused no surprises as Australia bagged the bronze medal with a dominating start-to-finish performance.



Australia's center Marianna Tolo came out the strongest among her team members with 21 points and six rebounds. Shooting guard Penny Taylor joined her teammate with 13 points, while forward Cayla Francis chipped in with 11 points.



Turkey's power forward Lara Sanders scored eight points and pulled down eight rebounds. Center Nevriye Yilmaz also scored a team-high 13 points. Turkey couldn't make it to the podium but ranked fourth in their first World Cup appearance.



The clash for the gold medal has now begun with tournament favorites USA facing off Spain in the championship.



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