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Looking to improve their chances of earning a ticket to the 2012 London Olympics, Turkey made a bold move on Wednesday after naming a new naturalized player in their final roster.
American-born Quanitra Hollingsworth earned the nod of head coach Ceyhun Yildizoglu, replacing Nevin Nevlin as the team’s naturalized player for the upcoming 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women in which they will be the host country.
Hollingsworth, who recently earned Turkish citizenship, has played in the WNBA before and made waves during the last season of the EuroLeague Women.
The 23-year-old center averaged 14.8 points and 10.1 rebounds for Uni Seat Gyor in the EuroLeague Women and led her team bad the Hungarian title.
Nevlin, on the other hand, has been one of the solid presences for Turkey in past international competition including the 2011 EuroBasket Women in which she averaged 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds. She had her breakout game in the semifinals, erupting for 23 points to lead Turkey to a 68-62 win over France.
Aside from Hollingsworth, Tugce Canitez and Begum Dalgalar will also be making their debut for the national squad in the upcoming Olympic Qualifiers for Women where five more spots to London are at stake.
The 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women will run from June 25 to July 1 in Ankara.
Turkey Roster for the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women
- Quanitra Hollingsworth
- Nevriye Yilmaz
- Esmeral Tuncluer
- Birsel Vardarli
- Nilay Kartaltepe
- Tugba Palazoglu
- Bahar Caglar
- Isil Alben
- Saziye Ivegin
- Yasemin Horasan
- Tugce Canitez
- Begum Dalgalar
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