18.06.2025 19:40
The Turkish Women's National Basketball Team lost to France 71-69 in their first match of Group A at the 2025 FIBA European Championship, failing to score on the last shot.
In the FIBA 2025 Women's European Championship hosted by Germany, Czechia, Italy, and Greece, the Turkish National Women's Basketball Team, which played its first match in Piraeus, Greece, lost to its strong opponent France with a score of 69-71, starting the tournament with a defeat.
The Crescent-Stars started the match quickly, scoring points in the paint with Teaira McCowan while forcing their opponent into turnovers with tight defense. France, which began to regroup, equalized the score at 13-13 with 5 minutes and 7 seconds left in the first quarter. The closely contested period ended with the Turkish team leading 23-22.
With mutual baskets and great competition, the second period saw the effective player of the match, Olcay Çakır, increase the lead to 8 points with two free throws just 18 seconds before the end, sending the Turkish team to the locker room ahead 44-36. The third period started with a very low score, and in the first 5 minutes and 45 seconds, the Turkish team struggled offensively, managing to score only two points. After this point, Turkey began to score and did not give their opponent easy scoring chances, finishing the quarter ahead 54-48.
In the final period, the National Team could not maintain the superiority they had throughout the match and failed to make accurate shots in the last seconds, losing the game 69-71.
The top scorer of the match was Salaun from France, who scored 22 points, while McCowan produced 20 points for the National Team.