CAIRO (Egypt) - Reigning champions Mali registered a 64-36 victory over hosts Egypt in the opening game of the FIBA U18 Women's African Championship on Thursday at the Cairo Stadium. 

The West Africans established an early lead 18-7 in the first quarter to punish the hosts who started the game on a slow note with the guards failing to control the ball in the back court. 

Mali subjected the hosts to a lethal full court press thereafter that forced them to make 23 turnovers ultimately while the former made it count on the other end of the court scoring 21 points from turnovers. 

Hala Yassine top scored for Egypt with nine points

In the third quarter, Mali switched to a zonal setup but still the Egyptians struggled to matchup their quick feet on defense and ability to help each other while talking. 

Egypt failed to register a double digit score in any quarter and settled for seven, six, seven and nine points in that order. 

"We knew how important it was to win the first game of the tournament and we gave our very best. We played good defense and this helped us to score on the other side of the court. This result has increased our confidence as a team and we shall build on this victory," said Diarrah Issa Sissoko who netted a game high 14 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals. 

Sissoko converted six out of nine times on the charity line

Alima Kouyate was the best player of the game with a double double after picking 14 rebounds and 11 points, four steals and three assists. 

Egypt captain Farida Mossad admitted that, "We did not give our best as a team. I feel that we could have done more because we are more capable than this. We shall go back to the drawing board and make corrections ahead of our next game."

Egypt's 35 turnovers and seven as compared to Mali's 17 team assists are areas that left head coach Sherif Azmy with a frown on his face. He promised to make amends going forward. 

The hosts will rest on Friday before facing Senegal the next day in their second game of the day. The women's teams are playing a round-robin tournament twice and the top two teams will face off in the final. 

FIBA