The Russian women`s basketball team have beaten Turkey 80-65 to progress to the Main Round of the European Championship in Poland.

´Boris Sokolovsky`s charges have stormed their rivals in the opening quarter, which they took with 29-7 scoreline, and than remained in control of the game until the end.

Olga Arteshina was the winning team`s most valuable player on the night, collecting 13 points and eight rebounds, with center Maria Stepanova and Elena Danilochkina also scoring 13 points each.

Despite the victory, Sokolovsky was far from happy with his team`s performance.

"I`m glad we`ve shown our true potential, but only in the first quarter. Grabbing a solid lead after the opening ten minutes, the squad just slowed down. They weren`t playing, but rather having fun - displayed excessive dribbling and gave up team play. I think those mistakes were the result of the fact that subconsciously our players decided that Turkey had already lost. I had to explain to them that it`s not true, during the break," the Russian coach told Sport-express newspaper.

The result saw Russia finishing second behind Lithuania in their Group A and progressing into the next round, having two points in the bag.

Czech Republic, Belarus and Great Britain will be the Russian girls` opponents in the Main Round which kicks off on June 23.
sections: Sport