BULAWAYO (Zimbabwe) – Angola added yet another victory to their credit thanks to the scoring prowess of Ana Goncalves and Artemis Afonso, who finished the game against Zambia with double digits.

Meanwhile, Mozambique kept hosts Zimbabwe at bay with a 86-38 win, thus comforting their top spot at the FIBA Women's AfroBasket Zone 6 Qualifiers. 

With this 4-0 record, Mozambique sit on top of Group A, with 8 points, while Angola are second with 7 points. Zimbabwe and Zambia are third and fourth respectively, with five and four points.

Zambia v Angola (32-85)

On Gameday 3, Angola saw Cristina Matiquite claiming 23 points against Zambia. On Friday, Ana Goncalves made the court her playground.

And she claimed it in such a way that no-one else came close to her. She was busy scoring 22 points and grabbing rebounds at both ends, two offensive and two defensive, and distributing 2 assists, during the 18:38 minutes she was on the court.

Artemis Afonso

During the same time, her teammate Artemis Afonso was also busy doing her thing, scoring 16 points and catching 2 rebounds and adding one steal to her overall figures. For this game, she let her sharpshooter skills do the talking, sinking her four attempts from behind the arc.

Sara Caetano also figured into the Top 3 scorers of the game, along Zambia’s Priscilla Chella, with 13 points each.

But giving credit where it’s due, Chella’s performance stood out as she also added 9 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals compared to Caetano’s 4 rebounds, 4 assists and an only steal.

Zimbabwe – Mozambique (38-86)

Unlike Angola, Mozambique did not rely on individual prowesses to overcome hosts Zimbabwe.

Coach Carlos Aik rather called in his entire bench, who produced 53 points throughout the game. Indeed, everyone on Mozambique’s roster had their name on the scoresheet.

Carla 

Mozambique’s top scorer against Zimbabwe was Shelsea Rafael, who contributed 16 points and 5 rebounds to her side’s success. Rosa Cossa followed with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while Carla Covane added a double-double to her credit. Alongside her 10 points, she had a game-high 13 rebounds.

Zimbabwe’s Mary Chawayipira was her team’s leading scorer with 18 points during the 40 minutes she spent on the court. Her efforts, however, proved vain as she watched Mozambique walk away with an easy victory.

Mozambique made a statement from the tip-off, as they made their way to take the lead 14-7 by the end of the first quarter. During the second period, they simply made a display of their skills, totally outscoring their opponent with a 30-13 run. From then, they only had to exert control over the game, which they did in the third and fourth quarters, homing 19-10 and 23-8 in each stretch.

Mozambique have started their return leg on good terms and show no signs of fatigue as they prepare to match Zambia and Angola in the coming days.

FIBA