Huge disappointment for Turkey

Serbia shocked Australia with an upset victory in the first quarter-final today.

Then Turkey was well on their way to the second upset of the day. They held a modest lead over Spain for most of the game and were up by eight points, 58-50, with four minutes left to play.

Spain turned up the heat, tied the game at 60-60 with a minute to go, and took their first lead of the fourth quarter with 0:36 left. Turkey missed a shot, then tied the game again with a steal and a layup by Lara Sanders.

With 4.3 seconds left, Spain's Anna Cruz tore down the court. Turkey had fouls to give, but didn't manage to get their hands on her and she sank a buzzer-beater that won the game 64-62. (One-tenth of a second less than Jeanette's historic last play vs Xavier in the 2010 NCAA quarter-finals.)

So Spain advances to a semi-final against Serbia and Turkey goes home, sadly without the medal they were so determined to get.

More:

• Game report: Cruz buzzer-beater sends Spain through to first-ever Olympic Semi-Final
  
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  

And so ends this chapter of "Stanford in the Olympics". I'll be back with the next chapter in 2020 when Nneka will surely be playing for Team USA — along with Chiney, dare we hope?

Next up: Quarter-finals at 10:30 am

Turkey will play Spain in the Quarter-finals on Tuesday, August 16.

FIBA and NBC agree that game time is 10:30 am PT. Watch on NBC basketball channel OLYBKHD or live stream.

Statistics heavily favor Spain, which went 4-1 in the preliminary round, losing only to the USA. Here is a comparison of the two teams.

Turkey will have to play their very best to achieve their dream of medalling.

Isil Alben says,"Our goal always was and still is to win a medal."

Seb says, "Could not be more proud to be a part of this team! Hope to keep it going during the quarter finals!"

Turkey 79, Brazil 76

Brazil came out blazing, determined to get their first victory of the tournament. They went on a 13-0 run in the last seven minutes of the first quarter, which ended with Brazil leading by seven points, 15-8.

Brazil continued the assault in the second quarter with a 16-0 run and doubled their lead to 36-20.

Turkey finally made some headway in the third quarter. They ended the quarter on a 16-4 run that reduced Brazil's lead to six points, 47-41.

Turkey tied the score at 48-48 four minutes into the fourth quarter. Seb gave them their first lead a minute later with her third three-pointer of the day. She hit another one from the same spot, deep in the corner, on Turkey's next possession.

Brazil didn't give up. They tied the score at 60-60 with 0:47 to go. After a missed shot, a steal, and a turnover, the game went into overtime.

Turkey was down by five with 1:02 left in overtime. Then Turkey made a three-pointer, a poke and steal, and a two-pointer. Brazil turned the ball over with a shot clock violation on the next possession, but Turkey's shot bounced out — on to second overtime.

The two teams traded a one-to-three point lead in second overtime. Turkey had the last one. They won 79-76.

More:

• Game report: Turkey outlast Brazil in double OT for third win in a row
  
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  

Japan upset France 79-71 in the final Group A game of the preliminary round. That game left France, Japan and Turkey in a three-way tie at 3-2 behind Australia (5-0). No one of them had beat the other two, so the tie break came down to their point differential. France with +8 is the the No. 2 seed, Turkey with -2 is No. 3, and Japan with -6 is No. 4.

The pairings for the quarter-finals will not be completely determined until Group B finishes its preliminary round tomorrow. But Australia will play B4 (China), France will play B3 (Canada or Spain), Turkey will play B2 (Canada or Spain), and Japan will play B1 (the USA).

Turkey made their first Olympics appearance in 2012 and lost to Russia in the quarter-final. They are determined to win a medal this time. With today's results , their chance has improved from virtually impossible to pretty good.

Turkey 74, Belarus 71

Turkey and Belarus played a very close-fought game today in their effort to earn a place in the quarter-finals. The biggest lead for either team was eight points.

Belarus was ahead for most of the first two and a half quarters. Then the momentum changed and Turkey crept ahead while Belarus slipped back.

An 8-2 run by Turkey tied the score at 48-48 with three minutes left in the third quarter. The lead changed a couple of time and then Seb sank a three-pointer with one minute left in the quarter to put Turkey ahead 55-52.

Turkey held on to their lead for the rest of the game and won 74-71.

Seb had her best game of the tournament so far. She played for 31 minutes and made two of Turkey's five three-pointers.

There are two more Group A games left to play today: Australia (3-0) vs Japan (2-1) & France (2-1) vs Brazil (0-3). Today's victory puts Turkey at 2-2, and they will end the day among the top 4.

There's just one round of group play left in which Turkey will play Brazil, who has lost all three of their games with a cumulative margin of -36. Turkey is virtually assured of advancing to the quarter-finals and has a good chance of avoiding the USA in the first round.

More:

• Game report: Yilmaz and Sanders lead Turkey to key win over Belarus
  
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  

Next: Turkey vs Brazil on Saturday August 13 at 11:30 am PT. Watch on NBC basketball channel OLYBKHD (maybe — they didn't broadcast today's game live) or live stream.

Turkey 76, Japan 62

Turkey was in great form this afternoon. Their strong defense almost took Japan out of the game, and they led 24-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Japan rallied a bit and finally began to find the basket about halfway into the second quarter.

Japan came out strong after the halftime break and cut the margin to eight points midway through the fourth quarter. But Turkey kept up its attack and held on to their lead and ended with a 76-62 victory.

Lara Sanders was almost unstoppable. She scored 36 points on 14 of 18 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free throw line. (Sanders, who goes by the name LaToya in the United States, has played basketball in Turkey for seven seasons since graduating from North Carolina.)

Seb played fifteen minutes of good defense and sank one of Turkey's six three-pointers.

More:

• Game report: Sanders puts on clinic, lifts Turkey to maiden victory
  
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  

Next: Turkey vs Belarus on Thursday August 11 at 8:15 am PT. Belarus currently stands at 4th in Group A, and Turkey is 5th, so this is pretty much a must-win game for both teams. Watch it on NBC basketball channel OLYBKHD or live stream.

Turkey 39, France 55

Turkey started strongly and led by eight points at the end of the first quarter. But France recovered and started to find their rhythm and knock down their shots. The score was tied at 35 a couple of minutes before the end of the third quarter. Turkey struggled to get shots in the final quarter and lost 39-55.

Seb played strong defense for 16 minutes but managed to get off only five shots, none of which connected.

More:

• Game report: France beats Turkey in opening game of women's basketball tournament
  
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  
• Full game video
  

Next: Turkey vs Australia on Sunday August 7 at 1:30 pm PT. Watch on NBC basketball channel OLYBKHD or live stream.

Seb is proud to represent Turkey in Rio

Sebnem Kimyacioglu hopes to bring a sense of pride to Turkey in Rio Olympics

By Sebnem Kimyacioglu, as told to Michelle Smith

After watching Turkey fight back from a terrorist attack and failed military coup, ex-Stanford guard Sebnem Kimyacioglu feels a heightened sense of responsibility to represent the nation in Rio. Read more ...

Just two days to go!

2 days to go! #RoadToRio #HaydiKizlar #Olympics pic.twitter.com/LtlgcLfOEr

— Sebnem Kimyacioglu (@MissSebnem) August 3, 2016

Turkey begins its quest for an Olympic medal on Saturday morning at 8:00am PT against France. All of the Olympic women's basketball games will be fully broadcast by NBC on specialty channel OLYBKHD and streamed live here.

Turkey's starting point guard Isil Alben is not going to be happy if Turkey can't win a medal: Alben looking for Turkey success at Rio Olympics

France suffered a severe blow yesterday when its starting point guard Celine Dumerc injured her ankle during a training session. Dumerc, who averaged 9.3 points and 4.2 assists per game with her club team last season, has been ruled out of the competition: Ankle injury rules Dumerc out of Rio Games, Bouderra steps in

On the road to Rio!

Seb and her teammates are en route from Istanbul to Rio today.

The team was interviewed after their last practice at home. This is what Seb had to say [google translation]:

Şebnem Kimyacıoğlu: "From the first match Everything I believe to be very good"

"We had a very long and intensive preparation period. To see light at the end of the tunnel in certain moments, we feel that we are too far away. Finally, now that the time has come, at the end of watches us go to Rio.

At the moment I can not express my excitement. to be representing my country, to be able to reflect on the field as a team, our work so far ... I believe in my team. I feel we can achieve good things there.

In particular, we made a serious condition install our second camp. As a result, we will have a very busy day in Rio traffic. A study mainly focused on the process of thinking about this condition and have gained significantly in strength. Of course, this in the work of recent fatigue comes out, but I think we have over our state.

Physical situation is out of our right to the top, we're going to a very nice time in Rio. From the first day I believe everything will be very good. "

This is Turkey's schedule in the group phase (Pacific Time):

• Sat Aug 6, 8:00 am, vs France
  
• Sun Aug 7, 1:30 pm, vs Australia
  
• Tue Aug 9, 1:45 pm, vs Japan
  
• Thu Aug 11, 8:15 am, vs Belarus
  
• Sat Aug13, 11:30 am, vs Brazil,
  

The top four teams in each of two groups (USA is in the other one) will advance to the quarter-finals on Tue Aug 16.

Here is the complete schedule of the women's basketball games with the times in your local time.

I don't expect that Turkish women's basketball games will be shown on American TV, but NBC is providing a live stream of all the action. You can find the links here, day by day.

20 years later — USA Basketball

Looking ahead to the Olympics

The groups and schedule for the Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament at the Rio 2016 Games have been finalised following the conclusion of the 2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) yesterday.

The Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament will take place from 6-20 August. It will open with a Group Phase played in a round robin format (each team faces the other five (5) in its group). The top four (4) classified teams from each group will then move on to the Final Phase which will be played in a standard knock-out system consisting of Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, Bronze Medal Game and Gold Medal Game.

Seb (Sebnem Kimyacioglu, '05) is the only Stanford alum playing in the tournament. It will be Seb's first Olympics and Turkey's second. In 2012, Turkey placed second in its group in the preliminary round, losing only to the USA, then lost to Russia by three points in the Quarter-Final. They are determined to win a medal this time.

This time, Turkey and the USA are in different groups, so will not meet until the Final Phase, if at all.

Here is the Olympic Women's Basketball website and the complete calendar, with game times in your local time.

Turkey punches ticket to Rio

Turkey defeated Cuba 71-45 in the quarter-finals. Seb contributed three treys to the victory, as she did in Turkey's previous two games.

Seb and her teammates are very excited about being Olympians!

• Game Report: Yilmaz, Sanders power Turkey to Olympics
  
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  
• Game Highlights
  
• Postgame Press Conference
  

Turkey advances to quarter-finals, New Zealand doesn't

Jillian drives to the basket

Jillian had a great game with 25 points and 14 rebounds, but the Tall Ferns fell two points short of advancing to the quarter-finals of the Olympics Qualifying Tournament. So disappointing!

Cuba struck the first blow and kept the lead until the last 12 seconds of the game when The Tall Ferns tied the score with a 3-pointer from Micaela Cox. But Cuba was fouled on the next possession, made two free throws, and won the game 64-62.

• Game Reports:
  
  • Cuba squeeze past New Zealand to reach Quarter-Finals
    
  • Tall Ferns' Olympic dream over in agonising loss to Cuba in France
    
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  
• Game Highlights
  
• Postgame Press Conference with coach Kereama and Jillian
  

Seb launches one of her three-pointers

Turkey cruised to a 72-46 victory over Cameroon and advanced a big step on the road to Rio. Thanks to two victories, they get to take on Cuba (#16) instead of France (#4) in the quarter-finals on Friday at 6:00 am PT.

• Game Report: Turkey slice Cameroon apart to reach the Quarter-Finals
  
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  
• Game Highlights
  
• Postgame Press Conference
  

Turkey wins first game, New Zealand loses

Seb on defense

Turkey secured its place in the WOQT quarter-finals with a decisive victory over Argentina, 66-38.

Seb played for almost 28 minutes and was a major factor in Turkey's victory.She contributed 11 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and was a strong defender.

In the postgame press conference, coach Ekrem Memnum spoke of Seb's importance to the team, "Sebnem is a very, very important player for us. She was my player in my club team. She started playing basketball after four years off – I just convinced her to start again the first time she was with us. So I really have big confidence in Sebnem. She's a great teammate, every day 100% there, every practice, every day around the team. So she sets the tone for us and we saw the results on the court. I hope she will continue that way. Players like her, they respect her, and it's a plus for us."

Turkey hopes to better its position in the quarter-finals with a victory over Cameroon tomorrow at 11:30 am PT.

• Game report: Turkey too good for Argentina
  
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  
• Game highlights video
  
• Postgame press conference
  

Jillian puts up a shot

The Tall Ferns put up a strong fight against France – they were up by two points at the half – but were overpowered in the second half and lost 70-52.

Jillian was heavily guarded and managed to make only two of her nine attempted field goals.

The Tall Ferns play Cuba tomorrow at 6:00 am PT. Cuba, which is ranked #16 in the world by FIBA played France on Monday and lost 83-67, so it's a must-win game for both teams.

• Game report: Yacoubou powers France into Quarter-Finals
  
• Statistics
  
• Photos
  
• Game highlights video
  
• Postgame press conference
  

Qualifying tournament is underway

The Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament has begun.

The twelve competing teams are in four groups of three teams each. Each team will play the other two teams in its group. Then the eight teams that have one or two wins will play each other. The winners of those four games have qualified for the Olympics. Finally, the losers play each other to determine who gets the fifth and final spot in the Olympics.

Here's the full schedule. Note that the time can be switched between event time and your local time.

Turkey (Seb's team – she made the final cut) and New Zealand (Jillian's team) are off today and play their first game tomorrow (Tuesday).

New Zealand (ranked #22 in the world by FIBA) begins with the toughest draw in the tournament – France, which is ranked #4 and has the home team advantage. Then they play Cuba (#16) on Wednesday. stuff.co.nz previews the action:
It's time to measure up as NZ's Tall Ferns chase a spot at Rio Olympics.

Turkey (ranked #11) has an easier road to Rio. They play Argentina (#15) on Tuesday and Cameroon (#39) on Wednesday. Argentina and Cameroon played each other today. Argentina won 75-64. Turkey shouldn't have much trouble making it to the Quarter-Finals undefeated.

All the WOQT games will be shown live and archived on LiveBasketball.tv – a month's subscription costs $9.99. Postgme press conferences and game highlights will be shown on YouTube — here's the playlist.

Seb and Jillian still in the running

Stanford alumnae hoopsters Sebnem Kimyacioglu ('05) and Jillian Harmon ('09) are prospective 2016 Olympians.

Seb is a member of the Turkish Women's National Team (probably, they still have to cut down from 14 to 12 players). This is Seb's first chance to be an Olympian. The Turkish Women's National Team competed in the 2012 Olympics, but Seb had left basketball to pursue a law degree at Santa Clara University.

Jillian is a member of the Tall Ferns, the New Zealand Women's National Team. This is Jillian's third go at the Olympics. The Tall Ferns (including Clare Bodensteiner, as well as Jillian) competed in the 2008 Olympics, where they ended with a loss to the U.S. in the premlinary round. The Tall Ferns competed for a spot in the 2012 Olympics, but didn't make it past the qualifying tournament.

Seven teams have already qualified for the 2016 Olympics (see Who's In). Turkey and New Zealand are two of the twelve teams that will compete in the Women's Olympics Qualifying Tournament for the remaining five spots in Nantes, France next week (see WOQT Schedule).

The twelve contending teams have spent the past couple of weeks preparing for the WOQT by playing in friendly tournaments. Wins have been thin for the Tall Ferns. Here's a report of their final friendly game from stuff.co.nz: NZ Tall Ferns wind up Olympic qualifying buildup with defeat to Spain.

Turkey has apparently been playing well, although there are no very coherent (to a non-Turk) game reports. Instead, here's an interview with Seb about her return to the Turkish National Team and her dream of playing in the Olympics (access with Chrome for an adequate translation).

Today three FIBA journalists offered their opinions about what's going to take place in Nantes next week: Which five WOQT teams will reach Rio 2016?