Defence Is Key Again For Galatasaray

Bahar Caglar and her Galatasaray teammates forced 21 turnovers by Mondeville

Galatasaray turned the defensive screw in the second half of a hard-fought battle with USO Mondeville and it paid dividends as they claimed a 58-47 home success to extend their winning streak.

After a slow start which witnessed the hosts fall 20-14 behind to the in-form French club, they gradually grew in influence although they still found themselves trailing by five points heading to the locker rooms.

But, it proved to be a very different second half as Galatasaray eventually began to blunt the offence of the visitors in the paint.

And, with ace playmaker Lindsay Whalen pulling the strings in the backcourt, Gala began to exert their influence and especially with a 9-2 run either side of the final quarter break.

That put them 52-43 ahead and gave USO Mondeville too big of a gap to bridge as Herve Coudray and his players struggled in vain to protect their own unbeaten record which ultimately came to an end.

They were however led superbly by Naignouma Coulibay and Laetitia Koumba. The former had nine points and a monstrous 18 rebounds whilst the latter claimed a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards.

With Ozge Yavas not stepping out for Galatasaray, Whalen played the full 40 minutes and produced 15 points, five rebounds and three assists as Gala moved to 4-0 in Group C.

Quotes Galatasaray vs. USO Mondeville

Mondeville coach Hervé Coudray:
"We started well but we cannot play the same for 40 minutes. We just played aggressively and very good in offense for 20 minutes. In the second half, it was the opposite. They pushed us for the last seconds, 24 seconds into a forced shot. We're a very young team, we're going to learn from this game."

Mondeville player Amanda Lassiter:
"I got into foul trouble at the beginning of the game. I came in and tried to be aggressive. My team fought hard, we made some mistakes in the second half that we just can't make especially playing on the road. I think that just comes with experience. We'll be ok."

Galatasaray head coach Ekrem Memnun:
"Offensively we struggled at the beginning of the game. We missed a lot of easy shots and opportunities and we weren't able to play with our regular toughness. We were kind of soft. But in the second half we spoke and our players really threw out a great fight. It was an excellent effort in the second half, especially defensively. And also we found many easy shots but we were unlucky, missed unbelievable shots under the basket. It's part of the game. So I'm very happy that we won and I'm proud of my players. They showed our character that we want to build. We don't want to lose, refuse losing, every game we're fighting till the end. Soon in the future I believe offensively we'll become a much more organised and better team."

Galatasaray player Lindsay Whalen:
"A really hard and strong game for us. We made a comeback in the second half and really fought. We played as a team. I think we did that and we got the win."

Quotes Galatasaray vs. USO Mondeville

Mondeville coach Hervé Coudray:
"We started well but we cannot play the same for 40 minutes. We just played aggressively and very good in offense for 20 minutes. In the second half, it was the opposite. They pushed us for the last seconds, 24 seconds into a forced shot. We're a very young team, we're going to learn from this game."

Mondeville player Amanda Lassiter:
"I got into foul trouble at the beginning of the game. I came in and tried to be aggressive. My team fought hard, we made some mistakes in the second half that we just can't make especially playing on the road. I think that just comes with experience. We'll be ok."

Galatasaray head coach Ekrem Memnun:
"Offensively we struggled at the beginning of the game. We missed a lot of easy shots and opportunities and we weren't able to play with our regular toughness. We were kind of soft. But in the second half we spoke and our players really threw out a great fight. It was an excellent effort in the second half, especially defensively. And also we found many easy shots but we were unlucky, missed unbelievable shots under the basket. It's part of the game. So I'm very happy that we won and I'm proud of my players. They showed our character that we want to build. We don't want to lose, refuse losing, every game we're fighting till the end. Soon in the future I believe offensively we'll become a much more organised and better team."

Galatasaray player Lindsay Whalen:
"A really hard and strong game for us. We made a comeback in the second half and really fought. We played as a team. I think we did that and we got the win."