Our visiting Beşiktaş Cola Turka Women’s basketball team suffered an 86-80 setback to Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi on Matchday 7 of the League.

Lady Black and White started strong and jumped out to a 6-0 lead on string of unanswered points by the trio of Naile İvegin, Shay Doron and Kayree Hornbuckle two minutes into the opening quarter. But after its first point by Lindsey Harding, Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi achieved to reach Beşiktaş Cola Turka, 8-7 with 6 minutes remaining on the clock, thanks to hot shooting Tuğba Talaşlıoğlu’s jumpers. Then our Kayree Hornbuckle traded free throws but also Sariye Gökçe of Mersin put a three point field goal, so the teams were locked in a 10-10 tie midway through the opening frame. Soon after Lindsey Harding sank a pair of free throws to give Mersin Büyükşehir its first lead in the game, Alex Quigley hit a jumper to put her team in front 16-14 at the 8th minute. Then Harding and Scott combined to score consecutive baskets for the hosts to end the quarter up 23-20.
After Tuğba Taşcı drove to the hoop for a lay-up to start the second stanza, Mersin Büyükşehir came right back with Ranne Scott’s throw to keep the home team safe. Nevertheless, Milica Dabovic knocked down a couple of clutch shots from the left corner and fired Beşiktaş Cola Turka back on top. However, as the quarter progressed, the Lady Black and White’s defense began to falter; and, Aylin Yıldızoğlu’s 25-foot three-pointer from the corner capped a Mersin run, which was sparked by Scott and Sariye Gökçe, to build a 36-29 cushion for the home team at the halfway mark. Beşiktaş Cola Turka needed an urgent timeout to talk things over. After the timeout, Shay Doron and Naile İvegün teamed up to put together a late spurt for the visitors and started chipping away at the deficit. But Beşiktaş Cola Turka could not overcome its defensive woes and trailed 47-35 at the half.
   
After Mccray Williams hit a jumper along the left baseline to start the second half, Mersin’s Lindsey Harding stepped up and began to pour it on the Black and White from all angles. Beşiktaş Cola Turka tried to remain within striking distance with Laura Harper’s lay-ups but was unable to contain hot-shooting Harding and Quigley. As a result, Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi went on to extend the margin to 15 points, 54-39, after five minutes. Müjde Yüksel used Tuğba Taşcı’s assists to narrow the gap; however, Alex Quigley would hit a number of free-throws to give the home side a 60-43 advantage with just over 3:00 left. Then the teams traded bucket in the dying minutes and Mersin Büyükşehir was up 65-50 heading into final quarter.
The Lady Black and White roared back to life in the fourth, as it brought the deficit down to 10 points at 65-55 on Shay Doron’s three-pointer from downtown and Alexis Kayree Hornbuckle’s free-throws two minutes into the final stanza. However, the host team would retaliate immediately with a pair of running jumpers from Makbule Amachree and Alex Quigley to extend the lead back to 69-55 with under 7:00 left. Led by Kayree Horenbuckle, Beşiktaş Cola Turka rallied back behind a string of unanswered points by Müjde Yüksel, Milica Dabovic and Shay Doron and succeeded in cutting the deficit to 4 points at 71-67 to climb back into the game entering the final five minutes. Nonetheless, Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi refused to get caught and rode Mistie Williams’ lay-ups to hang onto its slim edge. Shay Doron made a last-ditch attempt down the stretch to keep the Black and White in the game, but Makbule Alachree, Alex Quigley and Aylin Yıldızoğlu drained back- to-back jumpers to help Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi escape with a hotly-contested 86-80 victory.