Mali and Angola finish first and second in Group B, respectively

    PREPRETORIA (South Africa)- Curtains fall on the Group Phase campaign at the ongoing U18 Women's Afrobasket with the wheat separated from the chaff as all 8 quarters places were filed.

    PRETORIA (South Africa) - Two Group B matches were played on Monday 9 September, Angola going through on a 2-1 ratio while holders Mali survived an early scare from resilient Morocco to remain undefeated.

    Here's how the action unfolded;

    Amaral powers Angola to the quarters

    Needing a win to assure themselves a place in the knockout stages, Angola wasted no chance in beating debutants Zambia 82-35 to finish second in the group on five points.

    The opening quarter was initially close, with Sepho Phiri handing Zambia their only lead at 6-4 before the Angolans assumed lead at 7-6, through Ana Servico's trey. There was no stopping for Paulo Macedo's charges after that as they led 18-8 at the end of the period.

    A 23-11 second quarter show assured the reigning bronze medalists a comfortable lead into the second half where they dominated the third period 25-5 before a 12-11 low-scoring show for the victory.

    Luisa Amaral ran rings around Zambia, top scoring for her side with 28 while Servico and Daniela Gongo added 12 a piece in the win. Margarida Moniz, who led the winners in efficiency, led in rebounding with 13.

    Luisa Amaral

    Abigail Mwale and Cholwe Simubali led the scoring for Zambia, who head to the Classification Round matches winless, with 12 and 10 points respectively.

    "I am happy for my team's performance today. We played as a team in order to move to the next round. My mindset coming to this game was to play for my team. I did everything I possibly could to help us and made sure to keep my players motivated," Amaral said after the match adding that they would do everything to make the final.

    Mali assert dominance with convincing win over Morocco

    Mali erupted in the third quarter of their clash against hard-fighting debutants Morocco to stop the latter on their tracks, remaining perfect with a 97-61 victory to qualifying for the Last Eight.

    Lina Masrour gave Morocco a 4-1 lead but that was short-lived as Rokiatou Berthe brought the holders back from behind the arc for a 4-4, an early indication of how the first half would pan out.

    Oummou Koumare had a 8-for-16 shooting to finish with a game-high of 26 points

    Morocco led 16-11 with just over three minutes in the clock but Mali fought to level the score at 19 and take the lead at 22-21, Oummou Koumare at the centre of it all as she went on a 9-point run that saw her side go ahead 23-21 in the first quarter.

    The two sides exchanged leads numerous times in an entertaining second quarter that had Koumare score a three to bring Mali level on 42 points with 12 seconds to the half time whistle.

    Eiza Louveton's trey attempt ricocheted off the rim with Mama Sidiki Doumbia getting the defensive rebounds for the two sides to head to the break on a stalemate.

    Coach Thami Senouni's charges were a pale shadow of themselves in the third quarter, without taking anything away from Mali's run of course, as they were held to a 33-06 annihilation and suddenly, it was a one-sided encounter.

    A 22-13 fourth quarter show had Koumare push her numbers to 26 as Berthe added 19 to the win. The duo of Oumou Dabo and Doumbia bagged double-doubles, the former scoring 18 and adding as many rebounds. The latter dropped 14 points, adding 11 rebounds, 6 steals and 3 assists.

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