Galatasaray Win Ugly Against Avenida

Lindsay Whalen stood out for Galatasaray with 19 points, eight boards and four assists

Unlikely to be remembered by anyone who witnessed it, Galatasaray did what was necessary to win ugly as they rode out 68-56 winners over Avenida in an error strewn match-up in EuroLeague Women Group C.

Whilst Gala moved to a 9-2 record after what was their penultimate game of the regular season, there are still vast areas of improvement to work on for head coach Ekrem Memnum and not least in reducing turnovers and upping three-point shooting percentages.

Gala spilled the ball an unacceptable 20 times and were just one-of-six from long-range, relying mostly on their front-court to complete the task in hand, a rotation that still has the almost rehabilitated Nevriye Yilmaz to incorporate.

If Coach Memnum has work to do, then so does Victor Lapena as the wheels came of his so-called ‘blue revolution' with Avenida committing an even worse 26 turnovers.

They had kept pace with their hosts for the first-half and it was still a one-shot game at 33-31 early in the third period after Le'Coe Willingham made a jump-shot.

But, Gala made their move and outscored Avenida 21-7 during the remainder of the quarter to establish a 54-38 lead.

A couple of three-pointers early in the fourth by Marta Xargay briefly unsettled the home fans as Avenida hauled themselves back to within six points, but it was to be as close as they would get.

Ann Wauters and Sancho Lyttle impressed in the paint with a combined 35 points and eight rebounds apiece, the latter also coming up with a fantastic six steals.

However, Lindsay Whalen caught the eye the most with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Xargay had a team-high 18 points for Avenida whose hopes of progressing still hang in the balance.

Quotes: Galatasaray - Perfumerias Avenida

Galatasaray coach Ekrem Memnun

"It was an interesting game for us, we knew we are better than Avenida but they played a more serious game to qualify for the playoffs. They changed a couple of players and their coach. We played good and did not let them to enter the game. Next week we don't have a ELW game and maybe for the first time we're gonna train with full-squad."

Galatasaray player Lindsay Whalen

"We started the game really well and in the third period made a huge differential in scoring. Sometimes we were nearly losing control of the game but we recovered quickly."

Perfumerias Avenida head coach Victor Lapena

"I congratulate Whalen because of her big performance tonight especially at crucial moments. We did not play what we expected. Free throws and turnovers determined the gap."

Perfumerias Avenida player Marta Xargay

"We keep improving. I thank my teammates. We are playing better now. At breaking moments we played less efficient but we enjoy the game."

Quotes: Galatasaray - Perfumerias Avenida

Galatasaray coach Ekrem Memnun

"It was an interesting game for us, we knew we are better than Avenida but they played a more serious game to qualify for the playoffs. They changed a couple of players and their coach. We played good and did not let them to enter the game. Next week we don't have a ELW game and maybe for the first time we're gonna train with full-squad."

Galatasaray player Lindsay Whalen

"We started the game really well and in the third period made a huge differential in scoring. Sometimes we were nearly losing control of the game but we recovered quickly."

Perfumerias Avenida head coach Victor Lapena

"I congratulate Whalen because of her big performance tonight especially at crucial moments. We did not play what we expected. Free throws and turnovers determined the gap."

Perfumerias Avenida player Marta Xargay

"We keep improving. I thank my teammates. We are playing better now. At breaking moments we played less efficient but we enjoy the game."