The last champion of Turkish Women’s Basketball Super League, Near East University, defeated Botaş Sports Club 48-51 at the opening game of the new season and started 2017-2018 regular basketball season with a win.

According to the info delivered by the Near East University Sports Club, the game, took place at Ankara M. Sait Zarifoğlu Sports Hall and continued with close-fought. The Near East University started the game with the five including Elin Eldebrink, Bahar Çağlar, Quanita Hollingsworth,Courtney Vandersloot, and Kayla McBride, while Botaş started with Frida Eldebrink, Dilara Tongar, Elif Emirtekin, Kiah Stokes and Nevin Vatansever.

It was stated that the game was the scene of breathtaking moments and close fought. The versatile players of the Near East University kept the tempo high with tough zone defence and won the first period by a score of 10-15. The game seemed to be balanced in the second quarter, however, Vandersloot and McBride, the versatile and scorer players of NEU, exhibited a significant performance by achieving 7 assists and 18 points in total and gave Botaş no chance to catch up. Near East University completed the first half with a win 21-28.

Reflecting the weight of its broad and qualified staff to the basketball court in the second half, the Near East University outscored its opponent 23-37 at the 25th minute, which was the highest difference in score till that moment of the game. NEU’s players continued to dominate the third quarter and drove to basket. Although the difference in score climbed up to 18 points for a while, Near East University outscored its opponent with 15 points difference in the third period by a net score 32-47.

The final period of the game was the scene of tough and close zone defences. In full effort and with effective zone defence, Botaş began to fight back. Botaş scorer players began to get inside the paint and drive to basket. Botaş almost caught up the Near East University by reducing the score difference to one point (48-49) while approaching to the last minute of the game. Assisted by Olcay in the final 15 seconds, Ann Wauters got in the paint and drove to basket with a 2 point shot. Thus, Near East University won the game 48-51.

Standouts:

BOTAŞ:

KiahIrene Stokes: 18 pts, 15 rebouns, 1 assist, Fida Eldebrink: 10 pts, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, Elif Emir Tekin: 9pts, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, Nevin Kristen Vatansever: 6 pts, 7 rebounds, 3 assists

The Near East University:

Kayla McBride: 15 pts, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, Courtney Vandersloot: 15 pts, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, Quanitra Hollingsworth: 8 pts, 11 rebounds, Ann Wauters: 6 pts, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, Bahar Cağlar: 4 pts, 5 rebounds, 2 assists.