MAPUTO(FIBA U18 Women’s African Championship 2018) - The first day of the FIBA U18 Women’s African Championship was the fertile ground to surprise as Rwanda knocked off Egypt to secure first-ever FIBA U18 Women's African Championship win,  while hosts Mozambique secured an easy 61-32 win over Cape Verde. 

Debutants Rwanda had their moment in the limelight as they hit hard against last edition silver medalist, Egypt, 46-37.

 Rwanda hit hard in the first quarter (16-7), with the Pharaos returning the blow in the second quarter.

With an eleven-point lead, the East-Africans let go a little bit, as Egypt came back to 7 points by the end of the second quarter, 20-13.

The third quarter saw Egypt work their way through, pushing a mere 12-12, but Rwanda had their hands on the game and did not want to let go, 32-25. Point to be noted : this was the smallest gap of the game.

Rwanda kept the same momentum in the last quarter and did not looked back.

Rwanda head coach Chrales Mushumba explained that the defensive strategy paid off.

"We applied one on one defence, while insisting at the same time on zone defence. This has worked and we put our opponent in difficulty."

"We played hard and did our best in the first quarter. We maintained the pace and built our success this way,"he said.

Rwanda's Bella Murekatete came up with team-bests 13points and 21 rebounds while Egypt's Maya Abdelfattah poured in game-high 17points in their losing effort.

In the seconde game of the day, hosts Mozambique dispatched debutants Cape Verde 61-32 to open their campaign.

Mozambique's trio of Suraya Rijal, Karen Adinane and Filipa Calisto led the floor as the combined for 43points.

Cape Verde's Joseana Vaz netted game-high 19points but this was not enough to avoid the defeat.

FIBA