ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - In front of a sold-out home crowd, the Côte d'Ivoire Elephants held their own against Angola, securing an 82-74 victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.
With a massive fan base of 3,332 in attendance, including the nation's Minister of Sports who led the arena in cheering for their heroes and danced on the court after the hard-fought victory, the Ivorians left it late.
An 18-13 final quarter sealed the win.
This victory brings their record to 2-0, following their 75-63 opening-day win against Egypt.
Angola trailed by as many as nine points (18-9) in the opening quarter but fought back to within one point (21-20), only to lose the lead in the final 50 seconds. Back-to-back three-pointers from American-Ivorian Ameryst Alston put Angola seven points behind at the start of the second quarter.
The hosts had the momentum, pulling ahead 34-22 in the opening two minutes of the second quarter. Angola adjusted, driving to the basket more and holding the Ivorians to a 19-19 quarter, making it 46-39 at halftime.
TURNING POINT: Italee Lucas and Alexia Dizeko, who returned since her 2019 debut, combined for 14 points in the opening five minutes of the third quarter. This gave the team a short-lived 53-52 lead with 4:48 remaining.
Amma Maria Ouraga's three-pointer and Kariata Diaby's jump shot down the stretch gave the home team a 64-61 lead heading into the final quarter. However, the hosts closed out with an 18-13 quarter; Molly Kaiser contributed half of her team's points in the stanza.
HERO: Kaiser's 7-for-11, with an additional 7-of-8 from the free throw line saw the Liberian-born point guard close with 21 points, adding 11 assists for a double-double. Alston shot 5-for-8 on threes to close with 19 points.
STATS DON'T LIE: In the first half, Alston dominated from deep, making four of her nine attempts for Côte d'Ivoire. Angola shot 3-of-9 from behind the arc in the period.
The Portuguese-speaking side's bench was the hero in the opening half, going 19-3. Additionally, while the hosts went 9-of-16 from the charity stripe in that period, Angola barely put a foot wrong, converting all but one of their 13 chances. They finished with 22 of 29.
Ultimately, fast break points gave the Ivorians the edge, with 17 against 9.
BOTTOM LINE: The hosts have already improved upon their eleventh-place finish in the last edition, held in Kigali. They have an unbeaten record in the group phase and will have two days to rest before playing again.
Meanwhile, Angola will hope to avoid the same fate as in 2023, when they were stunned by Guinea in the round of 16 and missed the classification phase.
WHAT THEY SAID:
“Tonight, we took a big step toward achieving our dream. We made it to the quarterfinals, and I am really proud of my team. Everyone contributed and brought lots of energy. Helping my country celebrate a win like this at home is a beautiful moment in my career. We worked really hard to get to this point. We are going to enjoy our rest days and prepare for our next opponent. Our aggressive play in the second half was key. We knew they had played yesterday and would run out of energy at some point, which we saw in the fourth quarter. – Cote d’Ivoire center, Kariata Diaby
"It's all right; we lost nothing. We still have a chance, and we’ll try to win the next game. I will always be there for my team. We win together, and we lose together. I did okay tonight. Next time it might be one of my teammates. It's all right. We are here to fight for Team Angola, and that’s the most important thing. It’s not about individual performances.” - Angola guard, Alexia Dizeko
FIBA