Turkey and Memnum move closer to Rio

BUDAPEST (EuroBasket Women 2015) - Turkey head coach Ekrem Memnun was breathing a huge sigh of relief after his team grabbed a spot at the 2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT).

In an epic roller-coaster of emotion, the play-caller presided over a nerve-shredding 68-66 overtime victory against Russia in Budapest, which had looked like to be ebbing away from his team.

Trailing 66-63 with 45 seconds remaining and the shot clock about to expire, rising star Olcay Cakir stepped up and dropped a score from downtown to save Turkey’s skin, as Isil Alben subsequently sealed the deal with a score at the hoop.

"It was a great shot [by Cakir] and she had the courage to take it and make it, which made us very happy," smiled Memnun after the final buzzer had sounded.

"I want to congratulate the character of my players.

"We came here with high expectations and felt under pressure after the past two EuroBasket Women tournaments and expectations were very high.

"But we are trying to create a new team and have been together for only 40 days.

"We struggled at the beginning and improved - I think we have now won eight games in the tournament and we did a great job."

Lara Sanders accumulated a towering 28 points and 13 rebounds for the game winners, while veteran frontcourt partner Nevriye Yilmaz added 15 points to ensure Russia's hopes went up in smoke in the cruellest of fashion.

Earlier in the day, Angelica Robinson and Milica Jovanovic combined for 41 points for Montenegro as they wrapped up their campaign with an 89-77 triumph against Lithuania to seal seventh spot and their second best finish in the competition.

Sandwiched in between both games was the FIBA Legends of Europe contest.

A host of stellar names  turned out to support FIBA Youth Ambassador Natasa Kovacevic, who returned to playing basketball less than two years after losing her lower leg in a road traffic accident while at Uni Gyor.

Go to EuroBasketWomen2015.com for full coverage of EuroBasket Women 2015.

FIBA