AfroBasket Women - Angola survive Kenya scare, Mali beat Nigeria

MAPUTO (AfroBasket Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Kenya caused the biggest scare to date at AfroBasket Women 2013 as they kept up with Angola until the end of the third quarter when the defending champions finally took over the game to secure their third win and stay unbeaten.

Angola won 45-39, but needed to use their full-court defense for most of the game to disrupt the Kenyan warrior spirit and force them into turning the ball over 30 times.

The Kenyans, having lost their first two games, desperately need at least two wins to advance to the Quarter-Finals. They began quite well as they led 17-16 at the break.

Coach Ronny Owino's team defended aggressively, improved their offense and managed to make the team's first three-pointer in the tournament, as Angela Okoth connected from beyond the arc midway through the second to give Kenya a 13-11 lead.

Angola were unrecognisable offensively and only made two of their 19 three-pointers attempts. Clarisse Mpaka - who had a game-high 14 points - hit a timely one to tie the score at 26-26, before Nacissela Mauricio made a lay-up that put the Angolans in the lead and they never looked back.

Angola are joint at the top of Group B with Cameroon who beat Cape Verde 62-39.

The islanders played their worst game of the tournament, committing 34 turnovers and scoring only two points in the third period.

Cameroon stepped on floor with a solid plan as they limited Cape Verde's three-point specialist and leading scorer Jade Leitao to only three points, all coming from the free-throw line.

Leitao missed her seven three-pointers attempts and the defeat means that Cape Verde are still without a win in three games. They must win the remaining two games against Kenya and Nigeria to progress to the Last Eight.

In the highly-anticipated game of the day, between two African giants, Mali justified their credentials to compete for one of the two African spots to qualify for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey as they dominated Nigeria in all aspects of the game to secure a 78-45 win.

Mali out-rebounded Nigeria 37-17 to claim their second win in three games.

The Malian defense limited Nigeria's leading player, Ndidi Madu, to just two points before she fouled out early in the fourth quarter.

In the second game of the day, 10-time African champions Senegal piled more misery on Zimbabwe with a 123-45 victory.

The Senegalese had their third consecutive game featuring six players scoring 10 or more points.

In the Group A battle to join Mozambique and Senegal in the Quarter-Finals, Cote d'Ivoire beat Egypt 72-54 with Salimata Berte leading the Ivoirians with 20 points.

Reem Osama had game-high 21 points but it was not enough to prevent Egypt from suffering their third consecutive defeat.

The day could not have finished without yet another comfortable win by hosts Mozambique who trounced Algeria 67-34.

The home side though needed to play their best in the first half to overcome a combative Algerian team and take a 30-20 lead at halftime.

With the win, Mozambique booked a place in the Quarter-Final Round.

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

FIBA