Laurence Van Malderen's 16 points led five players in double figures as Belgium used an early 17-0 run to remain perfect at the 2007 EuroBasket Women with a 85-63 victory over Turkey in the Group E qualifying round in Vasto.

The Belgians improved to 3-0 in the group and could book a spot in the quarter-finals depending on Friday's later results.

Anke De Mondt scored 15 points while Ann Wauters had 13 points and Kathy Wambe and

		Wauters had 13 points and five rebounds for Belgium in 21 minutes of action.

Irina Medvedeva each added 10 points.

In addition, the Belgium reserves nearly out-scored the Turkish starting five - 45-37 - in the convincing win.

"I was surprised that we took a big lead in the first quarter. Of course, you never expect it to be like this, but we defended well and we built a big lead and were able to play our game," said De Mondt, who helped the team to a 58% (38-of-66) shooting percentage and out-rebounded Turkey 36-28.

"This win was very important for us because we have almost guaranteed ourselves a place in the quarter-finals."

Turkey dropped to 0-3 in the group and missed greatly their second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Nevriye Yilmaz, who didn't play at all with a back injury that kept her out of one first round game and left her a non-factor in Turkey's victory over Israel.

Yasemin Horasan paced the Turkish attack with 17 points while Bahar Caglar added 10 points. But Cem Akdag's team struggled throughout the game from the outside, making just 1-15 three-pointers (7%).

"I found out that Yilmaz was unavailable to play five minutes before the game started. She has a back injury and of course, that changed completely my plans because I had prepared this game with Yilmaz in the team," Akdag said.

"The only positives that I can take from this game is that two of my youngest players (Caglar and Isil Alben - three points and two rebounds in 19 minutes) had plenty of playing time today."

Belgium made clear immediately they would not play down to Turkey's level, ripping off 17 straight points in opening a 19-2 lead.

Evelien Callens's three-pointer pushed the cushion to 23 points - 29-6 - before Turkey closed to within 29-10 after one period.

The Turks couldn't get any rhythm offensively and Wauter's basket gave Belgium a 26-point advantage - 45-19 - late in the second quarter. The Belgians went into the locker-rooms ahead 49-26.

A De Mondt three-pointer increased the lead to 28 points early in the third and Turkey inched only to within 24 the rest of the period, which ended with Belgium ahead 72-46.

Turkey finally began cutting into the lead with the Belgian reserves on the court, trimming the deficit to 76-56, but Belgium coach Laurent Buffard re-inserted Wauters and Belgium used a 7-0 spurt to re-establish control.

On Sunday, Turkey take on Germany while Belgium look to stay on a  roll against Latvia.

Belgium could take a big step towards making the quarter-finals of the 2007 EuroBasket Women when they take on Turkey in the first game of the Group E qualifying round in Vasto.

The Belgians were the class of Group B in Lanciano and are looking to improve on their best-ever sixth-placed showing at the 2003 EuroBasket and qualify for at least the pre-Olympic tournament.

		Yilmaz, struggling with injuries, has been a non-factor for Turkey.

Turkey meanwhile hope to build upon their first victory of the tournament against Israel.

Last Time Out: Belgium finished off a perfect 3-0 run in Group B with a 74-71 victory over Romania while Turkey advanced to the qualifying round by knocking off Israel 70-58.

Key Match-Up: Nilay Yigit vs Kathy Wambe: Wambe has been the driving force of the Belgian surge in Italy, averaging 11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals. The Villeneuve-d'Ascq starlet also has committed just seven turnovers in guiding Belgium to a tournament-best 12 turnovers per game. Yigit must find a way to stop Belgium's motor.

X-Factor: Turkey center Nevriye Yilmaz: It remains unknown exactly how lingering the injury is to Cem Akdag's dominant low post presence, who missed Turkey's game against the Czechs and was a non-factor offensively against the Israelis. But Yilmaz needs to be fully fit and healthy for Turkey to have any chance.

Stats: After making just 5-of-30 (17%) three-pointers combined in their losses to Latvia and Czech Republic, the Turkish shooters came out of their funk against Israel to hit 10-of-24 (42%) of their long range shots.

Sounding Off: Belgium coach Laurent Buffard: "Turkey play very physical inside so it will be a very hard game. It's not always an advantage to have played a preparation game against a team and then play them again - even though we won. But if we play with the same confidence and the same frame of mind we did in the first round we should be okay."