CAIRO (Egypt) - Diarrah Issa Sissoko put up a player-of-the-match performance with 22 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals to help Mali overcome a stubborn Senegal side 74-39 on Monday at the Cairo Stadium. 

The 18-year old, who has been consistent all tournament, is the current leader on the highest points scored column with a combined 61 points averaging 15.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

Her tenacity on both ends of the court has been exemplary for the reigning champions who are now unbeaten in four games. 

Sissoko is at the heart of Mali's continued winning form

"Our target is to make it to the final and then we shall be eyeing the trophy. We are where we want to be at the moment. We have been consistent and that is what we expect from ourselves. We prepared for this tournament very well as usual," said Mali's head coach Amadou Bamba after the game.

A slow start from Mali in the first quarter had many raising their eyebrows at turnover after turnover as the Senegalese led 6-0 but even then, the chosen starting five knew that they had to stable the ship and find their rhythm.  

Just like they did in their past two games, Senegal led the first quarter 18-13 but Mali reiterated with their renowned full court press double and triple marking Senegal point guard Victorine Thiaw to deny her the ball and freedom of movement.

Thiaw had it rough against Mali

Shooting guard Ndate Ndiaye took over the point guard duties. She took long to get her groove with Mali switching to a man-to-man defense in the zone, quick on their feet to deny Senegal's center Khadija Faye. 

They boxed out the Senegalese and eventually limited them to just six points in the second quarter. High on confidence at that point, Mali ran away with the game and did not leave any room for error thereafter dominating both on offense and defense. 

Senegal have now lost all their three games further hurting their chances of qualifying for the final but their head coach Ousmane Diallo is not one to lose hope and he believes that his team still have a chance in their last game against hosts Egypt on Tuesday. 

FIBA