Leia-Dongue-27-09-2013
27/09/2013
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AfroBasket Women - Mozambique win thriller to reach Semis, Cameroon, Angola and Senegal join

MAPUTO (AfroBasket Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Basketball Gods were cruel for Nigeria and protected Mozambique in an 2013 AfroBasket Women Quarter-Final thriller for the ages on Friday night.

Mozambique rolled into the Semi-Finals thanks to a three-pointer by Leia Dongue with two seconds remaining to secure a memorable 77-74 victory and give the host nation a chance of competing for the two qualifying places on offer for African teams to the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women.

Mozambique led by as many as 16 points, but Nigeria bounced back and edged in front 63-62 with four minutes to play, causing an apprehensive moment for home fans who sold out the Maxaquene Gymnasium.

What seemed to be the end of Mozambique in the tournament with 35 seconds remaining as they trailed 74-71 instead became an epic battle when Valerdina Manhonga hit a three-pointer that tied the game at 74-74, before Dongue crushed Nigeria's hopes.

The Nigerians, paced by Sarah Ogoke, controlled most of the first half as Mozambique trailed for the first 14 minutes until Odelia Mafanela gave the home side its first lead at 24-22.

Although Mozambique secured a place in the Semis, and Dongue became their hero, the entire game belonged to Ogoke who had game-high 25 points.

She needed to receive medical assistance midway through the second quarter and that was the moment when Mozambique emerged to give them a 35-28 lead at the break.

Ogoke returned in the second half with a head bandage just to silence the hosts and their fans for most of the second half but Manhonga and Dongue - who finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds - struck the final blows.

In the match-up between Africa's highest ranked team Mali and the continent's most successful team Senegal, the latter prevailed 67-44 to reach the Last Four.

Astou Traore led the Senegalese in victory with 22 points while Fatoumata Bagayoko and Meiya Tirera were the only Malian players to score 10 points or more.

Earlier in the day, Reigning champions Angola secured their fourth consecutive AfroBasket Women Semi-Final appearance since 2007 with a comprehensive 84-49 win over Egypt.

Angola dominated in all aspects of the game, out-rebounding Egypt 37-22 with Felizarda Jorge and Nacissela Mauricio leading the winners with 14 points apiece.

Hagar Amer paced the Pharaohs with 15 points, but Egypt's 31 turnovers proved fatal.

Cameroon beat Cote d'Ivoire 62-48 in the ioebubg Quarter-Final to reach their first AfroBasket Semi-Final since 1986.

Astride Gano Njiogap had a stellar performance, hitting five three-pointers on her way to a game-high 19 points in the winning cause.

Cameroon won the battle on the boards 28-12 and registered 14 assists, but their ball handling will need to be better in Saturday's Semi-Finals as they committed 32 turnovers on Friday.

Kani Kouyate had 17 points and two assists in defeat for Cote d'Ivoire.

In the 9-12 place classification games, Cape Verde beat Algeria 65-45, while Kenya beat Zimbabwe 63-52.

In Saturday’s first Semi-Final (18:00 Local/CET time), Mozambique face Cameroon and then at 20:15, Angola take on Senegal.

Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Nigeria and Mali will compete in the 5-8 classification games at the Desportivo de Maputo gymnasium.

For full and in-depth coverage of AfroBasket Women 2013, go to the official website http://maputo2013.fibaafrica.com.

FIBA