The chances of staying in Division A continue to dwindle for England's U16 Women after they were defeated by Turkey 66-59 on Tuesday in the European Championship Classification round for 13th-16th place.

 

Tuesday's match-up with Turkey was England's first truly close game of the competition having lost their first four by an average of nearly 28 points. In fact, England led 50-49 early in the fourth period but Turkey only allowed them another nine points in the next nine minutes while reeling off 17 of their own to take the win. The fourth period was the only time the lead reached double-digits for either nation; this happened when Turkey's 15-4 run gave them a 64-54 lead with less than 2 minutes remaining.

 

Turkey had the edge in shooting with their 40% accuracy from the floor compared to England's 32%, compounded by a tough outing from guard Shanice Norton. Norton, who was England's scoring leader heading into the game, went 0 for 12 on Tuesday in 32 minutes on the floor.

 

Rhianna Laing led England with 14 points while Evelyn Adebayo had a solid overall game with 9 points and 8 boards. Selale Kepenc led Turkey with 15 points and 7 rebounds.

 

Next up for coach Karen Burton will be the Germans on Wednesday afternoon where a loss would virtually guarantee relegation. Only the top team from the four teams battling it out in this Classification Round will remain in Division A for the 2013 European Championship.