Finalists Mali, Egypt punch FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup tickets
Mali's consistency in the FIBA U16 Women's African Championship was on display again on Saturday as they brushed aside Algeria to punch their seventh FIBA U17 Women's Basketball Cup ticket.
CAIRO (Egypt) - Mali's consistency in the FIBA U16 Women's African Championship was on display again on Saturday as they brushed aside Algeria to punch their seventh FIBA U17 Women's Basketball Cup ticket at the Cairo Stadium.
Mali, who are six-time champions in the FIBA U16 Women's African Championship, eliminated Algeria in a one-sided Semi-Final 79-14. The win marked the second time Mali defeated Algeria in Cairo with the first being 104-18 during last week's Group Phase.
In a repeat performance of the first encounter, Rokiatu Berthe scored 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and Mariam Ibrahim Sarr with 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists as well as Alimata Coulibaly 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists were the tormentors in-chief.
The trio left no one in doubt as to their ambition to reach the final in style.
Captain of Mali Aminata Samassekou told FIBA.basketball that she is happy for the win as they have maintained a tradition of reaching the Final.
"Mali have been champions before and we are ready to win again. Qualification for the World Cup is also exciting for us. We want to win in the Final to prepare ourselves for the World Cup next year.
"As a team, we will give our best to make Malians proud. It would be fun playing in my first Final and I look forward to it with excitement because I want to be a good basketball player in the future."
The second Semi-Final saw Egypt through to their fifth final of the FIBA U16 Women's African Championship after trouncing Uganda 119-42.
Jana Sallman, who stars for local side Shooting Club, led the way to victory with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and one assist.
Standing at 1.86m (6ft 2in), the 15-year old forward was the cynosure of all eyes as she and her mates made an easy meal of Uganda.
Sallman was joined by Judy Elshebshery who scored 18 points.
Uganda on their part improved in scoring from their first outing against Egypt that ended 89-17.
In the Semi-Final game, it was Darlene Tashobya who impressed with 14 points but that was the best she could do against a superior Egypt side.
In the Final, Mali will go out to retain her stranglehold on the title but Egypt will bank on home support to make a difference and surprise the reigning champions.
The Third-Place battle will be between Uganda and Algeria. It promises to be a game of grit and tactics given the result of their first meeting which ended 46-44 in favour of Algeria.
FIBA